Honduran Police Kill Six Drug Traffickers

[Junior]

Honduras police kill six in drug gang clash
BBC News, May 12, 2011

Honduran authorities say six suspected drug traffickers were shot dead in a gun battle with police.

The clash, in the city of Catacamas in Olancho province, broke out when police confronted the men, officials said.

Authorities said seven people were also arrested, accused of working for drug gangs who operate in the area.

In another incident, gunmen shot journalist Francisco Medina near his home. He was the 11th Honduran reporter to be killed in the past 18 months.

Initial reports from Catacamas, 100km (62 miles) east of the capital, Tegucigalpa, said shooting broke out on Tuesday night between rival gangs.

Security Minister Oscar Alvarez later said the men were heading towards a clandestine landing strip when they were confronted by the police.

In the ensuing gunfight six men were shot dead and seven people arrested, he told Honduran media.

Olancho province, where Catacamas is located, has seen a rise in violence in recent months. The vast area near the Nicaraguan border has numerous landing areas for traffickers smuggling cocaine en route to the US.

Mexican drug cartels have become increasingly active in Honduras.

Reporters at risk

Also on Tuesday night, two men on a motorcycle opened fire on TV journalist Francisco Medina in the city of Morazan, 120km (75 miles) north of Tegucigalpa.

He was taken to hospital where he later died.

Mr Medina, 35, who worked for a local TV station, had received death threats after reporting on crime and land disputes, said Santos Galvez from the Honduras College of Journalists.

Mr Medina was the first reporter to be killed in Honduras in 2011. Last year, 10 journalists were killed.

The International Press Institute, in a report this month, said that the Americas were heading towards becoming the most dangerous region in the world for journalists.

Honduras and Mexico, where 12 reporters were killed, accounted for nearly a quarter of the 102 journalists killed worldwide in 2010, the IPI said.

[Junior]

Honduras finds 2.5 tonnes cocaine in submarine
BBC News, July 30, 2011

Naval forces from the US and Honduras have recovered 2.5 tonnes of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Honduran coast.

Honduran General Rene Osorio said there were more than five tonnes of cocaine on the vessel, and authorities would need two days to retrieve all of it.

The vessel is submerged because the crew tried to sink it after they were intercepted two weeks ago.

Honduras is on a key route used by cartels trafficking drugs to the US.

Coast guard officials intercepted the submarine-like craft off the Caribbean coast of Honduras near the province of Gracias a Dios.

[Junior]

Post-2009 Coup, Honduras Still a 'Narco-Storehouse'
By Elyssa Pachico, InSight, September 23, 2011

The Honduras government says Mexican gangs like the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel are turning the country into a "narco-storehouse." Has the country sufficiently recovered from the 2009 political crisis to rebuild its anti-crime efforts?

According to Defense Minister Marlon Pascua, 87 percent of the cocaine exported from South America to the U.S. travels through Honduras along the way. The authorities have seized more than 10 tons of cocaine in the past five months, Pascua added. This is compared to the 6.1 tons seized in the whole of 2010, meaning the Honduran security forces have basically doubled their interdiction capabilities.

Pascua is right to point to Honduras' strategic location as a reason why it has become a hub for transnational gang activity. But geography isn't the only reason that drug traffickers are increasingly using Honduras as a base for cocaine shipments. After the 2009 coup against President Manuel Zelaya, the state's attention shifted even further away from crime issues. Instead, police and military focused on suppressing protesters and cementing the control of temporary President Roberto Micheletti. Key allies cut aid to Honduras, including the U.S., while government agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stopped sharing intelligence on trafficking.

With the state's focus fixed elsewhere and crucial support from the U.S. missing, criminal groups took advantage of the disorder. During Micheletti's brief time in office, up to 1,000 tons of cocaine may have traveled through Honduras by land, sea or air, according to analyst James Bosworth.

As Bosworth rightly points out, Honduras was experiencing a steady backslide in security even before the coup. But the political turmoil basically turned the country into the region's most convenient "narco-storehouse." In December 2009, the country's top anti-drug official was ambushed and killed in the capital, in one of the clearest signs yet of the growing power of the drug traffickers. Honduras now has the highest murder rate in Central America, with 77 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. According to a report recently released by the U.S. Senate, the country also has the highest number of gang members in Central America, with an estimated 36,000.

According to the numbers cited by Pascua, Honduras has improved its drug interdiction capabilities this year. In one much-trumpeted seizure in July, Honduran forces intercepted a "narco sub" carrying more than five tons of cocaine, with support from the U.S.

But interdiction statistics are only a sign of superficial progress. A report by a Honduran human rights group says the country is on track to reach a murder rate of 86 per 100,000 people by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Congress backed away from taking the tough, but necessary, measures towards a new security tax which would have funded the fight against organized crime.

When current President Porfirio Lobo assumed office in January 2010, his administration inherited extremely limited capabilities to combat drug trafficking and crime. If Honduras has indeed managed to significantly increase its cocaine seizures above those seen before the coup, it is testament that the security forces have significantly improved their anti-drug efforts.

But this is a small gain when considering the challenges that still lie ahead for Honduras. President Lobo recently initiated a shake-up among his top security officials, which may be a sign that he recognizes the current strategy isn't working. But it's just as likely that the changes in command are simply the result of political infighting. As observed by Bosworth, Lobo's strategies for fighting crime has relied heavily on the military, sparking some accusations of human rights abuses. The government has also tried to link the activities of land reform activists to organized crime, an approach that has proved dangerous and wrong. The touted improvements in drug interdiction rates are merely distractions from the government's ongoing failure to improve security.

The U.S. Senate has its own suggestions for how Honduras may finally consolidate, not just rebuild, security for its citizens in the post-coup era. These measures go far and beyond improving the country's drug seizure capabilities. What about establishing a replica of Guatemala's International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG, in Spanish) in Honduras, in order to strengthen the country's judicial institutions? The Senate report also suggests increasing the permanent presence of U.S. law enforcement agents in the country, by establishing the DEA's Sensitive Investigation Unit and the FBI's Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force, both currently absent from Honduras.

The defense minister's labeling of Honduras as a "narco-storehouse" is not far off the mark. But the country is not just a victim of geographic location and expansionist Mexican gangs. Thanks to political turmoil and ongoing institutional incompetence, Honduras has extended an open invitation for drug traffickers to set up shop inside the country. It will have to be very strategic about withdrawing that invite.

[Junior]

Lobo: More Seized Drug Cash Should Fund Honduras Security Forces
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com, Tuesday, October 11, 2011



Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said more of the cash seized from drug traffickers should be distributed more quickly among the security and defense departments. The government agencies could use the seized cash to fund more anti-crime operations, but the legal process for distributing the drug cash is too slow, he complained.

A revised law allowing the Honduras government to better seize criminal assets was passed just over a year ago, and authorities are still having trouble implementing it efficiently.

Lobo told La Tribuna that there should be a policy allowing for the seperation of cash assets from material ones like houses, guns, and other luxury items. The forfeited cash could then be distributed far more quickly to security agencies, who need to spend the money in the campaign against organized crime.

According to a law introduced in July 2010 and approved by Congress in November, three government ministries may each receive 26 percent of the forfeited criminal assets: the State Security Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Public Ministry. Another 10 percent is intended to be used as "bonus" salaries for police and firemen, and the remaining 10 percent is destined to drug rehabilitation programs.

But the distribution of these seized assets to the security forces has faced layers of red tape. Last year security forces seized three properties worth tens of millions of dollars, believed to have been built with drug money. By December, the government did see the distribution of a report $150 million to the security forces, but this was only made possible because an emergency decree sped up the process.

In September, the government announced they may create of a new office intended to make implementing the law easier. Honduras is seeking new sources of funds for the fight against organized crime, and even briefly considered the creation of a security tax.

Allowing the Honduran security forces to more efficiently access the cash seized from drug traffickers could provide a serious financial boost. As the U.S. State Department points out, Honduras is a transhipment hub for bulk cash shipments smuggled from the U.S. back to Central and South America. In 2009, Honduran security forces seized cash shipments valued at $7.1 million; with another $9 million seized in 2010.

But little of that money is going into the hands of the security forces. The government has reportedly only distributed $2 million and 35 million lempiras (about $1.8 million) worth of seized cash to state insitutions between 2003 and 2011.

[Junior]

Honduras to Put Captured Narco-Sub on Display
Written by Hannah Stone, InSight
Monday, October 10, 2011

The Honduran Armed Forces announced plans to display a drug-smuggling submarine, raised from the seabed after being sunk by its occupants, as a "trophy of war" against the drug trade.

General Rene Osorio told press that the vessel would be put on show on a military base in Tegucigalpa, reported La Tribuna.

The semi-submersible is the first to be caught by Honduras, after being intercepted off the Mosquito coast, close to the Nicaraguan border, on July 13. The crew members scuttled the vessel, and authorities weren't able to locate it until late July, when they managed to recover some 6.6 tons of cocaine stored within.

Over the weekend the craft was finally brought to the surface. Osorio said that they would continue to look for the motor and the GPS systems, in order to find out where the vessel had come from and where it was going.

Defense Minister Marlon Pascua said that the semi-submersible had "pretty expensive" equipment, including an eight-cylinder engine, reported EFE.

Honduras has become an increasingly important transit point for drugs, with some 87 percent of all cocaine transported into the U.S. from South America passing through the Central American country on the way.

[Junior]

15 Dead in Honduras 'Gang' Massacres
By Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Monday, October 17, 2011

Two separate mass killings left 15 people dead in one night in San Pedro Sula, northwest Honduras, both of which have been blamed by officals on rivalries between drug gangs.

In one incident on Friday night, masked gunman attacked several luxury vehicles as they exited the international airport east of San Pedro Sula. The attack was highly coordinated and carried out in approximately two minutes. The gunman, who may have been posing as police officers, forced six individuals to exit their vehicles and lie face down on the pavement, where they were shot at point blank range.

Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla said that the attack was motivated by conflict between rival gangs from La Ceiba, a port city on Honduras northern coast, thought to involve two groups known as the Grillos and the Pelones. Police said that the target was one of the victims, a man called Olvin Francisco Castro Guevara, who had just arrived from Miami with his wife and two children. The wife was injured in the attack, but the children were reportedly unharmed.

The second incident, a shooting in San Pedro Sula’s Central Penitentiary, left nine inmates dead and another three wounded. Prison officials blamed the violence on a dispute between rival gangs, but some accounts said that a group of prisoners was attempting to escape, raising the possibility that prison officials were involved in the killings.

With an average of 20 homicides per day, Honduras currently has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The country’s location, along with its weak security institutions, have encouraged transnational organized crime groups to use the country as a distribution center for cocaine being smuggled from South America to the U.S.

[Junior]

Weapons, Ammo Stolen From Honduras Police Warehouse
Written by Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Monday, October 31, 2011

Hundreds of weapons and a large stockpile of ammunition have disappeared from a police warehouse in Honduras, according a report by El Heraldo.

According to sources within the Honduras' police force who spoke to the newspaper, 300 automatic rifles, several hundred thousand bullets, bulletproof vests and other assorted weapons and equipment are missing from a warehouse operated by the Cobras Special Operations Command in the nation's capital, Tegucigalpa.

One source suggested that the theft could not have occurred without assistance from corrupt elements within the police because the warehouse is under guard 24 hours a day. Nearly 200 weapons disappeared from a Cobra Special Operations Command storehouse in similar circumstances in 2007.

El Heraldo reports that the rifles and ammunition were first reported missing in late August, prior to a cabinet shake-up saw the replacement of Security Minister Oscar Alvarez.

Alvarez complained that he was unable to make progress on police reform during his tenure because corruption was so deeply entrenched in the country's security forces. Honduras is increasingly used as a transshipment point by drug traffickers moving cocaine from South America north towards the United States and is currently facing one of the world's highest murder rates.

[Junior]

Honduras troops join fight against violent crime
BBC News, November 1, 2011

The government of Honduras has deployed hundreds of troops in the main cities to combat a wave of criminal violence.

Joint patrols of soldiers and police have been sent into areas dominated by criminal gangs.

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate, according to the UN, with much of the killing linked to drug-trafficking.

On Monday President Porfirio Lobo sacked his top police commanders after four officers accused of murder were released and went into hiding.

The military deployment, dubbed "Operation Lightning", began in the capital Tegucigalpa and the northern city of San Pedro Sula.

Soldiers and counter-insurgency police units set up road blocks while helicopters patrolled overhead.

President Lobo said the aim was to "guarantee the presence of the authorities in the most conflict-ridden areas".

He vowed to "do everything possible within the law to reduce the impunity that makes us all indignant".

Outrage

The sacking of the police commanders on Monday followed the release of four officers accused of killing two students.

Their release has caused public outrage in Honduras, which is suffering soaring levels of violent crime.

A recent UN report found the country had the highest rate in the world in 2010, with 82 killings per 100,000 inhabitants - an average of 20 murders a day.

Honduras is a major transit point for cocaine smuggling from South America north through Mexico to the US, and much of the violence is linked to drugs gangs.

[Junior]

3,000 Guns "Disappear" in Honduras
By Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Thursday, November 10, 2011

El Heraldo newspaper is questioning the Honduran authorities about the disappearance of thousands of guns from government warehouses, amid fears they may have ended up on the black market.

El Heraldo is investigating the whereabouts of approximately 3,000 guns collected during President Maduro’s administration, between the years 2002 and 2006. Maduro implemented a temporary gun buyback program, in which weapons could be surrendered to police in exchange for 1,000 lempiras (approximately $50 dollars).

A source quoted in the article says that 600 guns were stored on police Cobra Special Operations Command facilities and the remaining 2,400 were held by Honduras’ National Special Investigation Services. This incident is not the first in which a cache of weapons has disappeared from Cobra facilities: hundreds went missing in 2007 and again, in late October, authorities admitted that guns, ammunition and equipment had vanished from storage at a Cobra installation.

There is no evidence that the government destroyed the large cache of weapons, including AK-47 rifles and other military-grade weapons. Officials questioned by El Heraldo could not provide information on their location. Honduran authorities have initiated an investigation into the missing weapons, according to a spokesperson for the Security Ministry.

Honduras has one of the world's highest murder rates and is the government is struggling to combat increasing violence related to drug-trafficking. Many fear that the missing stockpiles of weapons may be used to arm criminals and drug traffickers, fueling further conflict in the region.

[Junior]

US Establishes Honduras Naval Base to Fight Drug Trafficking
Written by Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A new, U.S.-funded naval base in the Bay Islands, off Honduras’ northeast coast, is intended to strengthen efforts against organized crime in a country that has seized a record 20 tons of cocaine in 2011.

A $2 million dollar naval facility financed by the U.S. will open next month in Guanaja, in the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras. The high-tech facility will support joint operations to intercept marine and air vessels being used to traffic drugs through the region.

The Guanaja base is the second U.S.-funded installation in the area, the first of which was established in Honduras’ northern Gracias a Dios department.

Honduras’ Defense Minister Marlon Pascua also announced that authorities have intercepted a record high of 20 tons of cocaine so far in 2011. He said that in previous years total seizures have not reached above 8 tons.

Pascua also noted that, in addition to the interception of a drug-smuggling semi-submersible vessel in August, authorities confiscated two other similar vessels this year.

[Junior]

Honduras army to take on drug gangs
Reuters, The Guardian
Nov 30, 2011

Honduras has voted to deploy the army to fight encroaching Mexican drug cartels in an effort to curb violence in the country.

By an overwhelming majority, congress decided to follow a model used by the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón who launched an army-backed campaign against powerful drug gangs soon after taking office in late-2006.

Since then, more than 45,000 people have died in drug violence in Mexico. But on a per capita basis, the small nation of Honduras far outpaced every other country in the world in homicides, with 82 murders per 100,000 people last year, according to the UN.

About 20 people are killed in Honduras every day.

Officials blame most of the murders on cartels smuggling South American cocaine through Central America to consumers in the US. Honduras also struggles with violent youth street gangs that extort local businesses with death threats.

"This legislation will allow the armed forces to take on policing roles to confront organised crime and drug traffickers operating across the country," congressman Oswaldo Ramos from the ruling conservative party said.

Some human rights activists worry the military is not prepared to combat civilian crimes and have accused Mexican soldiers of involvement in torture and disappearances in the drug war.

The concerns are heightened in Honduras, where the military helped oust leftist president Manuel Zelaya in a 2009 coup.

"We have serious doubts about the implications of sending the army to do policework," said leftist congressman Sergio Castellanos. "They are not prepared to deal with civilians and this will only strengthen their position in society after the coup," he said.

The move is popular though, and polls have shown people feel safer with soldiers patrolling the streets.

[Junior]

Radio Journalist Gunned Down in Honduras Capital
Written by Hannah Stone, InSight.com
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A Honduran reporter was gunned down by assassins on motorbikes in Tegucigalpa, bringing the number of journalists killed in the country since the 2009 coup to 17.

Luz Marina Paz Villalobos was driving to work on Tuesday morning with a man who has been identified as her cousin, when gunmen on at least one motorbike pulled up alongside them. The assassins fired more than 47 high-caliber bullets into the vehicle, killing both.

EFE reported that sources said Paz had been threatened for refusing to pay extortionists' demands for payments over a small business that she ran. La Tribuna said she had received threats from gang members demanding a "war tax."

Paz hosted a radio news show called "Three in the News," which dealt with crime, among other themes. However, as InSight Crime has noted, many killings of journalists in Honduras have been linked to political motives.

The country's National Commission for Human Rights said in September that 23 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2007. Paz is the 17th since the 2009 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

[Junior]

Honduras: Home to the New Ciudad Juarez?
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Reports that San Pedro Sula, Honduras, has taken the place of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as the most violent city in the hemisphere are a result of shifts in trafficking patterns which are putting Central America at the heart of the drug trade.

According to a new report by Mexico’s Civic Council on Public Security and Criminal Justice, San Pedro Sula saw 159 homicides per 100,000 residents last year, topping the non-profit organization’s list of the most violent cities in the hemisphere. The Honduran city replaced Ciudad Juarez, which has topped the list for the past three years.

This shift in ranking reflects major changes that have occurred within the regional drug trade over the past decade, in which Mexican drug traffickers have deepened their influence in Central America. There they have established connections to local crime bosses, known as “transportistas,” who facilitate drug shipments between South America and Mexico. The rise of these transportistas has been accompanied by a surge of violence in the region, which is exacerbated by a growing local market for drugs, weak state institutions and government corruption.

By contrast, Mexico has seen some success in its own struggle with organized crime, apprehending or killing several top drug traffickers in recent years. And while recently released government statistics show that homicides linked to organized crime increased 11 percent in 2011, the 2010 figure was 70 percent higher than in 2009, suggesting that the wave of violence in the country may be abating. It should also be noted that although Mexico's violence dominates headlines in the US, it pales by comparison to the situation in Central America. According to the United Nations’ 2011 Global Study on Homicide, the average homicide rate in the six biggest countries of Central America is 43 per 100,000, which is more than twice that of Mexico.

The country leads the UN list with 82.1 homicides per 100,000, making it the most dangerous country in the world in terms of murders. This prompted the US to pull its Peace Corps volunteers from the country due to safety concerns. As InSight Crime has reported, Honduras has been particularly affected by the growth of transnational drug trafficking in Central America. In September 2011, Honduran Defense Minister Marlon Pascua claimed that 87 percent of cocaine which is sent from South America to the United States passes through Honduras. If this is accurate then, taken with the United Nations’ latest estimates of the size of the US cocaine market, it suggests that an incredible 143.55 tons of the drug pass through Honduras annually.

But despite Honduras’ status as a major drug transit nation, relatively little is known about the major criminal players in the country. According to security analyst James Bosworth, the process is mostly overseen by three of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico: the Zetas, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. In a December 2010 working paper on crime in Honduras for the Wilson Center, he claimed that US drug enforcement officials believe “a large portion of the management” of these drug trafficking networks are Mexican, and are mostly affiliated with one of these three major groups.

These groups also appear to have different preferred methods of transporting their goods northward. Bosworth writes that “in general, according to experts who track the shipments, the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels move more cocaine by land across the Honduras-Guatemala border while the Zetas move more by sea.” Their exact areas of influence are unknown, but the government has acknowledged their presence in at least four provinces along the western border with Guatemala and the northern coast.

These organizations do not work alone. As mentioned above, Mexican drug trafficking groups frequently depend on local transportistas to supply them with their product from South America. In Honduras, the most high profile transportistas are Nelson and Javier Rivera, brothers who turned a mid-level car and cattle theft operation into an extensive drug-running venture with ties to government officials, known as the Cachiros gang. The Cachiros’ influence stretches all along the northern coast, as well as the eastern provinces of Gracias a Dios and Olancho. Other smaller transportista networks, such as the El Salvador-based Perrones, also operate in the country.

On the street level, Honduras is also home to the gangs that have sprang up throughout the region; Barrio 18 and their rivals, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Street gangs like these two groups are likely responsible for a majority of the violence in San Pedro Sula. As a series on the city by La Prensa reveals, at least 10 entire neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city are completely in the hands of these gangs, and police are unable to even enter them. Extortion, sometimes referred to as a “war tax,” is common in San Pedro Sula, especially targeting transport workers such as bus and taxi cab drivers. To make matters worse, small-scale drug trafficking is on the rise in the city, which could lead to more violent turf wars.

There appears to be no evidence that the violence in San Pedro Sula is caused by any kind of overarching conflict between Mexican cartels, as is taking place in the border cities in the north of Mexico like Juarez or Tijuana. However, it is likely that the Mexican groups active in the country are at least present in the Honduran city, if not major contributors to the violence.

San Pedro Sula is an economic powerhouse, producing two-thirds of Honduras’ GDP. Because the flow of capital there is far greater than in any other city in the country, it is an ideal place to launder money. It is also located relatively close to both the border with Guatemala and Puerto Cortes, Honduras’ main port, making it strategically situated to direct smuggling networks.

[Junior]

Honduras Will Allow Drug-Related Extraditions To US
Fox News Latino, January 20, 2012

Honduras' congress on Thursday approved legislation permitting the extradition of its citizens charged in other countries with drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime.

Starting Feb.1, the Central American nation will be able to sign extradition treaties with other countries, including the United States, which has sought the change.

Lawmakers agreed Thursday that Hondurans charged with high-level crimes can be prosecuted elsewhere. Honduras has barred extraditing its nationals since 1982.

The action comes four days after all 158 Peace Corps volunteers left Honduras because a wave of violence and other drug-related crimes posed a high risk for them.

Record Pot Bust Up in Smoke

Adding to the extradition announcement, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said that the United States is sending people to help Honduras battle the violent crime that led to the withdrawal of the Peace Corps volunteers.

Lobo said the Americans will work on analyzing the problems.

Lobo told the HRN radio network Thursday that "soon there will be U.S. personnel here ... and that will contribute to the tranquility of the Honduran people."

He did not specify if the Americans would come from some government agency or a private company.

Lobo said that Honduras is also receiving security help from Colombia, Chile, Spain and other countries.

Last year the first United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's Global Study on Homicide reported that Honduras led the world in murder in 2010.

Honduras registered 82.1 for every 1,000 people in the country, the UNODC found.

[Junior]

22 Grenade Launchers Go Missing from Honduras Army Supplies
By Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com, Wednesday, February 8, 2012

22 anti-tank grenade launchers have gone missing from military stockpiles and may have fallen into the hands of criminal groups, according to Honduras prosecutors.

The Honduras Special Prosecution Office Against Organized Crime has opened an investigation into the disapperance of 22 RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers from military supplies, reports El Heraldo.

The weapons went missing from the army's logistical support center in mid-2010, although the military opened no internal investigation into the matter, nor made an effort to recover the missing equipment, according the newspaper. The RPG-7s were most likely smuggled out in trucks loaded with scrap metal, although the exact date of the theft is unknown, the El Heraldo report says.

One sergeant has been detained and is being questioned by authorities about his alleged involvement in the robbery.

The RPG-7 launchers are shoulder-fired weapons with a range of hundreds of meters.

InSight Crime Analysis
The Honduras security forces have a poor record of keeping track of their armament, feeding suspicions that these stockpiles are an important source of weapons for criminal groups. Hundreds of automatic rifles and several hundred thousand bullets were reported missing from a police warehouse last November. In 2010, an aircraft disappeared from an air base in San Pedro Sula; six military officials were later charged in the case.

Precedent cases indicate that the missing anti-tank launchers could have been trafficked far outside of Honduras. A number of anti-tank weapons recovered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and San Andres Island, Colombia, were later traced back to the Honduran army.

[Junior]

Officials Discover 62 Clandestine Landing Strips in Honduras
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Monday, March 12, 2012

Officials in Honduras have discovered more than 60 hidden airfields in four eastern provinces, which drug traffickers use to smuggle their product into and out of the country.

La Tribuna reports that Honduran police have found at least 62 clandestine landing strips in the eastern departments of Olancho, Colon, Gracias a Dios and El Paraiso. Officials say that they have destroyed 13 of these landing strips in the past several days, and plan on destroying 12 more this week.

According to Rene Osorio Canales, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran military, most of them are in good condition. “This indicates that drug trafficking organizations use them frequently, maybe even as much as one or two times a week,” Osorio said. He also claimed that it is common for drug flights to have three alternate landing sites, so that if one is deemed too risky the pilot can reroute to either of the others in midflight.

InSight Crime Analysis

As illustrated in the map below, the largest number (25) of these landing strips were found in remote areas in Olancho, the country’s largest province. It is followed by Colon (with 15 landing strips), Gracias a Dios (12) and El Paraiso (10).

The discovery of these airfields sheds light on Honduras’ increasing importance in the regional drug trade. Honduras is a major transit nation for South American cocaine bound for the US, and as much as 79 percent of all cocaine smuggling flights from South America first pass through Honduras, according to the US State Department. This is slightly lower than the statistics cited by Defense Minister Marlon Pascua, who told local press in September that 87 percent of cocaine which leaves South America to the US passes through Honduras.

[Junior]

Seven dead in Honduras pool hall shooting
BBC News, March 20, 2012

Gunmen have killed seven people during an attack on a pool hall in Honduras, police say.

They say six people were shot dead when a group of about 30 attackers burst into the venue in the northern city of La Ceiba on Sunday.

They then entered a neighbouring house where they killed a 15-year-old boy.

Honduras has one of the world's highest murder rates, according to the UN, with much of the violence linked to drug-trafficking.

The motive for the latest killings is being investigated.

Police suspect they were part of a fight for territory between rival gangs, local media reports say.

[Junior]

'Mara' Gangs Behind 11 Deaths in North Honduras: Govt
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight.com
Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The government says a wave of violence in northern Honduras that left at least 11 people dead within 48 hours is due to gang warfare, but the reality may be more complex.

The spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office in San Pedro Sula said the conflict began when members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang killed two members of Barrio 18 (M-18) on Monday night, reports the AFP.

Barrio 18 retaliated by killing four alleged members of the MS-13 in La Lima, a town some 260 kilometers north of San Pedro Sula, the spokesperson said. The group then reportedly murdered five more alleged MS-13 members in another town, Chamelecon (see map, below). Police say they have captured one suspect responsible for the Chamelecon killings.

The deaths followed a massacre on Sunday in the northern port city La Ceiba, where gunmen killed seven people in a pool hall.

InSight Crime Analysis

The alleged conflict between MS-13 and Barrio 18 is taking place in Cortes province, which, according to the National Autonomous University of Honduras, registered the highest number of homicides in Honduras last year, with 1,915 killings. Human rights organization Conadeh released slightly different numbers, but found that Cortes and another province, Francisco Morazan, accounted for 46 percent of the violent deaths registered in Honduras last year.

Along with the province of Atlantida, where La Ceiba is located, these three northern provinces have seen the highest levels of violence in the country since 2008.

There are different explanations for why these areas have been so badly afflicted. One is that the killings are part of gang wars, as with the government's explanation for the 11 murders on Monday and Tuesday. But as human rights group Conadeh has observed, police frequently commit extrajudicial killings and then pass off the deaths as being related to gang infighting. Cortes and the other provinces have also been the site of land conflict, with farm workers pressuring for agrarian reform. Activist groups have said part of the violence is related to this struggle.

Government institutions allege that gang rivalry is responsible for much of Honduras' violence, but the reality is often more complex.

[Junior]

At Least 13 Killed in Honduran Prison Riot, Fire
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Friday, March 30, 2012

At least 13 inmates have been killed in a riot and subsequent fire in a prison in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, highlighting systemic flaws in the country’s overcrowded prison system.

According to Honduras’ La Tribuna, yesterday’s uprising began as a scuffle between armed members of rival prison gangs, in which at least two inmates were murdered, one of whom was then decapitated. Police officials claim that the inmates then started a fire in the prison’s kitchen. While reports of the casualties vary, between 13 and 18 prisoners died as a result of the fire and clashes.

La Prensa reports that the uprising was brought to a halt by San Pedro bishop Romulo Emiliani. Monsignor Emiliani claims that prison guards were unable to break up the fight, and the inmates themselves called on him to mediate the conflict. After two hours of dialogue, Emiliani convinced the gangs to end the violence and allow guards to retake the prison.

The incident came just six weeks after another tragic prison fire in in Comayagua killed more than 300 inmates. It also comes after reports that the Church brokered a deal with gang leaders to lower gang-related homicide levels in El Salvador.

InSight Crime Analysis

The violence points to the deeply-rooted problems in the Honduran prison system, which is notoriously overcrowded and under-staffed. Like the Comayagua prison, the facility in San Pedro Sula was immensely over capacity. Although it was originally intended for no more than 800 prisoners, AFP notes that some 2,250 inmates are currently being detained there.

Overcrowding is a hallmark of Honduran prisons, and the London-based International Centre for Prison Studies claims that the country’s prison facilities contained nearly 38 percent more inmates than their intended capacity in 2010. The massive surplus of prisoners, combined with a lack of institutional control, has caused Honduran prisons to become dominated by violent street gangs. According to a recent report by the National Human Rights Commission, at least 30 inmates were killed in prison clashes last year.

As InSight Crime has reported, much of this overcrowding is due to the prevalence of pre-trial detentions, in which a suspect is detained without being formally charged for a crime. In the Comayagua prison, for instance, more than half of the inmates were being held under such circumstances.

[Junior]

Attack in Honduras' Bajo Aguan Region Leaves 4 Dead
Written by Tatiana Faramarzi, InSight.com
Friday, March 30, 2012

Four peasant farmers were killed and eleven wounded in an ambush in the Bajo Aguan region in northeastern Honduras, highlighting escalating violence in that area which top officials connect, in part, to organized crime and drug smuggling.

As the Associated Press reports, the victims of the March 28 attack were members of the Unified Peasant Movement of Bajo Aguan (MUCA). Eleven other MUCA members were wounded, according to the group's leaders.

MUCA's vice president, Juan Chinchilla, said the farmers were leaving from work in various vehicles when they were ambushed by a group of gunmen without any chance to flee or defend themselves.

InSight Crime Analysis

Bajo Aguan has been the site of a violent land conflict for over two years involving a multitude of violent actors. The region is part of the eastern province of Colon, an important transit point for transnational drug shipments moving north.

Thursday's attack occurred on the outskirts of the municipality of Trujillo, Colon, not far from where a military convoy was ambushed on March 26. That ambush was allegedly carried out by a group dressed as peasant farmers carrying automatic assault weapons. Descriptions of the assailants from Thursday's attack on MUCA's members match those of the gunmen who attacked the convoy on Monday.

President Porfirio Lobo stated this week that it has become clear that criminal groups active in drug trafficking are responsible for the recent bloodshed in Bajo Aguan. And he has deployed the military in recent months to tighten security in the zone.

However, there are also concerns that security forces themselves may be connected to other assaults on peasant farmers in the region. This month 94 members of the U.S. Congress signed a letter calling on the Obama administration to suspend all military and police aid to Honduras until human rights violations in the region are addressed. Seven US senators signed an additional letter requesting that the State Department update them on Honduran investigations of human rights abuses in order for them to monitor progress.

For its part, the Honduran Congress attempted to quell conflict by passing decrees in June and September 2011 which permitted peasants to purchase over 4,000 hectares of land. However, both of these plans fell through as the result of outbreaks of hostility in the region.

[Junior]

Honduras Names Ex-Colonel as New Drug Czar
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo has appointed a former colonel as his top anti-drug official, continuing the militarization of the country’s fight against drug trafficking.

On April 24, Colonel Isaac Ramon Santos Aguilar was sworn in as the new director of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DLCN). Santos has previously served as an army spokesperson, head of a military academy, and chief of the counternarcotics division of the armed forces.

The DLCN has not had a permanent head since December 2009, when then-director, retired General Julian Aristides Gonzalez, was assassinated by gunmen while driving in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. Another official reportedly being considered for the position, former DLCN deputy director Jose Alfredo Landaverde, was gunned down in December.

InSight Crime Analysis

In a press conference following the swearing-in ceremony, Santos swore to defend the law and crack down on drug trafficking in Honduras, which is a major transit country for South American cocaine bound for the US. The crime has fueled a wave of homicides, and the government has responded by increasing its reliance on the military for law enforcement. The Lobo administration has stood firmly with the US in opposition to recent calls for drug legalization, and Santos’ policies will likely not bring any change from the current pro-US and heavily militarized anti-drug strategy.

This strategy has come under fire from critics, who argue that the army’s mandate is too vague and say that it paves the way for the military to interfere in domestic politics. Additionally, the reputation of the military has been muddied by allegations that some elements of the security forces have passed on weapons, including grenade launchers and anti-tank rockets, to criminal organizations. As a career military official, Santos may be hesitant to reign in military abuses.

[Junior]

US Military Supporting Honduras Drug War with New Forward Bases
Written by Christopher Looft, InSight.com, Monday, May 7, 2012

The New York Times reports on military bases the US's Southern Command (Southcom) has established in remote parts of Honduras to support anti-drug operations, in an example of the US military's increased commitment to the region.

The three remote forward operating bases (see map) serve as launchpads for joint operations by the US military, the DEA and Honduran anti-drug authorities, the NYT reports. The bases are located in rural areas close to drug handover points, and each house 55 people at a time in two-week rotations.

The bases have cut the time between radar detection and interdiction of a suspicious airplane from three hours to 30-45 minutes in most cases, according to the report.

US troops in Honduras operate under strict rules of engagement. They cannot fire their weapons except in self defense, even if Honduran or DEA officials are under attack, and their bases are guarded by Honduran military personnel, as the NYT reports.

InSight Crime Analysis

The US military has signalled its willingness to take on a greater role in Central America, which has been hit by drug violence over the last decade as it has become an increasingly important transit zone for the drug trade. In March, Southcom commander General Douglas Fraser told Congress that "the violence continues to increase in Central America, and that's where and why we are focusing there."

Honduras has been one of the countries that has seen the biggest increase in military aid and cooperation, including a new US-funded naval base in the Bay Islands off its northern coast. Joint Task Force Bravo, Southcom's Central America component, keeps 600 troops at its headquarters at Soto Cano Air Force Base outside of Tegucigalpa.

There are also US-funded military bases in El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, as well as one planned for the Dominican Republic.

For its part, the DEA's presence on the missions conducted out of the forward bases includes members of its elite Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST), set up to fight drug trafficking in Afghanistan and later expanded to other countries as the US's involvement in that conflict winds down.

While the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan diverted military assets away from Latin America, this trend may be reversed, as more personnel and equipment become available for anti-drug operations in the region.

[Junior]

Virginia Drug Bust Points to Honduras Cocaine Connections
Written by Elyssa Pachico, InSight, Friday, May 11, 2012

United States authorities announced the arrest of 28 people involved in a trafficking ring that smuggled cocaine from Honduras into the country, a rare case of a US-based Honduran drug ring with a transnational connection.

The 28 suspects were arrested in Virginia's Fairfax county (pictured) and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

According to the FBI, the trafficking ring imported cocaine from Honduras hidden in ordinary household items like shoes and picture frames. The drugs were then distributed in as many as five states along the east coast, and part of the profits wired back to their suppliers in Honduras.

InSight Crime Analysis

Honduran groups that control every step in the drug trafficking chain -- from direct contacts with a supplier in Central America, to controlling local distribution inside the US -- are rare. Most legal cases in the US have involved Honduran groups who focus on street dealing, a phenomenon more commonly seen on the west coast, especially in Seattle. Honduran trafficking rings with their own transnational connection, and a somewhat sophisticated smuggling strategy, is a more unusual find for US law enforcement.

The existence of such a drug ring in Virginia is partial indication that, as more cocaine passes through the Central American country, there is more incentive for US-based smugglers to establish direct links with Honduran suppliers. The Honduran government seized 22 metric tons of cocaine last year, further indication of the sheer volume of illicit product now passing through its borders. Defense Minister Marlon Pascua has said that 87 percent of the cocaine which leaves South America and ends up in the US first passes through Honduras.

[Junior]

Honduras protest over shootings
BBC News, May 17, 2012

Protesters in Honduras have burned down government offices and demanded that US drug enforcers leave the area following the fatal shooting of four people.

Two men and two pregnant women were shot dead in a boat on the Patuca River in north-eastern Honduras on Friday, local officials say.

US and Honduran officials say police only fired shots after the helicopter they were in was fired at by smugglers.

The local mayor says they were innocent fishermen caught in the crossfire.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has confirmed that some of its agents were on a US-owned helicopter with Honduran police officers when the shooting happened.

The aircraft was chasing a small boat suspected of carrying drugs on the river, they told the Associated Press news agency.

'Logistical support'

Ricardo Ramirez, chief of Honduras' national police force, said the operation "was carried out with the support of the DEA" and that an assault rifle was seized at the scene.

DEA officials confirmed that their agents were aboard the helicopter.

"We were there in a support role, working with our counterparts," DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden told AP.

US Embassy official Matthias Mitman in Tegucigalpa said in a statement that "the US assisted Honduran forces with logistical support in this operation".

According to the New York Times, US helicopters were scrambled to help seize a boat carrying cocaine. As they did so, a second boat arrived and opened fire.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP that said several helicopters owned by the US State Department were involved in the mission and carried members of Honduras' National Police Tactical Response Team.

They said the aircraft were piloted by Guatemalan military officers and outside contractors.

Lucio Baquedano, mayor of the coastal town of Ahuas, said police fired on the wrong boat.

"These innocent residents were not involved in the drug problem, were in their boat going about their daily fishing activities... when they gunned them down from the air," he told AP.

He said people had vented their anger at the government offices in Gracias a Dios region because they "sought revenge" against the government.

'Persona non grata'

The leaders of several of the ethnic groups in the area said in a joint statement that "the people in that canoe were fishermen, not drug traffickers.

"For centuries we have been a peaceful people who live in harmony with nature, but today we declared these Americans to be persona non grata in our territory."

The US says 79% of all cocaine smuggling flights leaving South America land in Honduras first.

According to the US State Department, DEA officials based in the country helped seize more than 22 tonnes of cocaine last year - nearly four times more than in 2010.

The US has personnel stationed at Soto Cano Air Base, and military equipment from the base has been used in drug operations before.

But US Embassy officials say that neither troops nor equipment from the base were involved in Friday's incident.

[Junior]

Honduras prisoners riot at jail in San Pedro Sula
BBC News, May 17, 2012

Officials in Honduras say inmates have taken control of a prison in the city of San Pedro Sula.

At least one person was killed and 10 injured when prisoners opened fire on each other on Wednesday.

The prison governor said guards had surrounded the jail but he had ordered them not to go in to "avoid a bloodbath".

Honduran prisons are notorious for overcrowding, rioting and violence; 13 inmates died in the same jail in March.

Officials said a fight broke out on Wednesday in the block housing inmates not aligned with gangs.

Prison Governor Orlando Leiva said the motive could have been a fight about a woman.

"We have not yet been able to confirm that report because the women who were in the prison are still being held by the prisoners," Mr Leiva said.

Violent and overcrowded

The governor said that when the shooting started, the guards followed security protocols, opening the cell doors and securing the prison's perimeter.

Thirty patrols are stationed around the jail to prevent convicts from escaping.

The Bishop of San Pedro Sula, Romulo Emiliani, is negotiating with the inmates in an attempt to reach a peaceful outcome to the stand-off.

Honduras, which has the world's highest murder rate and a huge gang problem, struggles to house its inmates.

The country's 24 jails, built for some 8,000 inmates, are currently holding more than 12,000.

In February, a fire in a jail in Comayagua, north of the capital Tegucigalpa, killed 361 people.

[Junior]

Guatemala, Honduras May Replicate El Salvador Gang Truce
By Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight, Thursday, May 24, 2012

Following the apparent success of a declared truce between El Salvador’s two largest street gangs, ministers of neighboring Guatemala and Honduras have announced that they would consider promoting similar agreements in their own countries.

Salvadoran security minister David Munguia Payes hosted counterparts from Guatemala and Honduras in San Salvador this week in a conference on organized crime in the region. According to La Prensa Grafica, the focus of the meeting was on the truce between El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs, which has drastically reduced homicides in recent months. Raul Mijango, a former congressman who worked with the Catholic Church to mediate the truce, was also in attendance.

After the meeting, Guatemalan Interior Minister Hector Mauricio Lopez told local press that he considered the truce “very innovative,” and said it was “worthy of being studied” to see if it could be exported.

Honduran Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla also praised the results of the deal, noting its dramatic impact on the homicide rate. “[The truce] is a lesson which deserves to be replicated, to attempt it in my country, where we regrettably have the highest homicide rate,” said Bonilla.

InSight Crime Analysis

The fact that the Salvadoran government is talking about the truce as a kind of "model" is significant, as this recognizes the fact that it played a role in the initial negotiations. In the past the government has tried to distance itself from the process, crediting the Church and civil society groups with brokering the agreement independently.

It remains to be seen whether El Salvador’s neighbors will seek to imitate the truce, or whether Guatemalan and Honduran officials were merely paying lip service to it. In Guatemala, such a development would be especially unusual considering President Otto Perez’ s “iron fist” policies aimed at cracking down on criminal activity. He recently lobbied Congress to pass a law which would allow courts to try children as young as 12, ostensibly to reduce gang violence.

Also, it may be too soon to describe El Salvador’s truce as a “success.” While such agreements tend to bring a temporary drop in violence, they have proven difficult to transform into long-term arrangements. In 2010 civil society groups helped broker a similar truce between rival gangs in Medellin, Colombia, but the deal eventually fell through after several months, followed by a sharp rise in violence.

[Junior]

Mexico Seizes Zetas Diesel Headed to Honduras
Written by Christopher Looft, InSight
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Mexico's navy reportedly said it had seized some 80,000 gallons of diesel fuel, bound for Honduras, belonging to the Zetas, a sign that the group are expanding both their sources of income and their geographical reach.

Mexico's navy seized 79,000 gallons of diesel fuel, hidden aboard a vessel (see picture) in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche state, apparently bound for Honduras. Officers found the fuel during a routine inspection, and noticed it did not appear on the records of the Mexican-flagged vessel. The operation took place May 15, but was not reported until now.

Authorities said the ship's crew claimed they received the fuel from other shipping vessels, EFE news service reported.

InSight Crime Analysis

While El Heraldo published a report saying the Navy had named the Zetas, neither a Navy press release nor EFE's report mentioned the group.

Still, the group has aggressively expanded its sources of income with a major emphasis on fuel theft. Around 3 million barrels of petroleum were stolen from state-owned oil company Pemex in 2011, a 52 percent increase over 2010, representing a loss of almost half a billion dollars to the company. It is plausible that the fuel shipment belonged to the Zetas, and while they have been reported to sell stolen fuel to the US, sending it to Honduras would be a new development.

Though unprecedented, the sale of stolen fuel in Honduras would make sense, given the country's vast contraband networks. While it may seem like a lot of trouble to ship 80,000 gallons of diesel to Honduras, Mexican fuel subsidies put downward pressure on prices, reducing the incentive to buy illicit fuel there.

Regardless of whether the ship's crew indeed had ties to the Zetas, they would have had plenty of options for how to spend the money earned by selling stolen fuel in Honduras. The US State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (see pdf) said some 80 percent of drug flights from South America land first in Honduras. The stolen fuel may have served as a fundraising effort to enable the purchase of drugs to bring back north for sale.

[Junior]

US Agent Kills 'Trafficker' in Honduras Anti-Drug Mission
By Christopher Looft, InSight, Monday, June 25, 2012

A US agent's killing of a suspected drug trafficker in Honduras highlights Washington's deepening involvement in the country's fight against crime, despite rising controversy among Hondurans.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Public Affairs Officer Rusty Payne told InSight Crime that the operation was an anti-drug mission led by Hondurans with assistance from embedded FAST (Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team) personnel. He called it a "very successful mission," highlighting the 360 kilograms of cocaine seized.

During the operation in northeastern Brus Laguna (see InSight Crime map below), Honduran police and a US agent arrested three ground crew members and the pilot of a small plane loaded with cocaine. US Embassy spokesman Stephen Posivak said a suspected trafficker killed was fired upon by a US agent after reaching for a holstered firearm, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

US officials told the AP that the raid was carried out as part of a new US anti-drug mission in Honduras, known as Operation Anvil. It was the fourth such raid since Anvil began two months ago, compared with a rate of less than one mission every two months for the previous year and a half. US and Honduran personnel now follow every suspicious flight they detect, using six State Department-provided helicopters operated by non-US pilots.

InSight Crime Analysis

The death was the first time a DEA agent has used deadly force since they were first sent to accompany local anti-drug forces in Latin America several years ago, spokeswoman Dawn Dearden told the AP. It follows another deadly incident when four people were killed during a joint drug interdiction operation between the DEA and Honduran police in May. The incident caused great controversy, with witnesses reporting that the dead were unarmed civilians. US personnel reportedly did not open fire.

Despite anger in Honduras over the killings, President Porfirio Lobo publicly appealed for more anti-drug aid from Washington only days later. This latest killing suggests that US assistance is not being scaled back in response to the criticism, but is continuing to expand.

The country has become an increasing importance transshipment point for drugs heading from South America to the US. The government reported seizing some 22 tons of cocaine last year -- a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 143.55 tons that we can estimate are shipped through each year, using a Honduran government estimate that 87 percent of cocaine consumed in the US goes via the country.

[Junior]

US agents shoot dead Honduras 'drug flight pilot'
BBC News, July 9, 2012

Two agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shot dead the pilot of a suspected drug flight last week, a DEA spokeswoman has said.

It happened on 3 July when a small plane being tracked by Honduran and DEA agents crashed in eastern Honduras.

One of the two pilots was shot after "resisting arrest", the spokeswoman said.

It is the second fatal shooting by DEA agents who are working with local police to intercept drug flights.

DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said on Sunday that the security forces found two pilots at the crash site south of Catacamas.

One pilot was injured and taken into custody.

The second "ignored orders to surrender and was shot after making a threatening gesture," Ms Dearden said.

Honduran police recovered about 900kg of cocaine from the aircraft.

In June, a DEA agent shot a suspected drug trafficker in northern Honduras, while an anti-narcotics raid in May involving a team of Honduran and US agents led to the deaths of four people.

Local people said those killed were innocent passengers on a river boat at night.

Since April, the Honduran and US authorities have stepped up efforts against illegal drug flights.

The operation is run with six US state department helicopters and a special team of DEA agents working with Honduran police, a US official in Honduras told the Associated Press news agency.

Honduras is a key stopover for traffickers smuggling drugs from South America to the US.

[Junior]

Extortion Shuts Down 1/3 of Businesses in Honduran Capital
Written by Tracey Knott, InSight, Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Extortion has reportedly forced 30 percent of small businesses in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa to close, demonstrating the economic cost of insecurity in the country.

According to an El Heraldo report, 30 percent of Tegucigalpa's small businesses -- some 10,800 -- active in the beginning of 2012 have closed due to frequent threats from criminals attempting to extort money.

Some business owners have elected to move to Nicaragua, where they believe the government does a better job of providing security, reported El Heraldo, whose survey showed that there is a general distrust of the police in Tegucigalpa. Some Hondurans worry that corrupt police officers might even be assisting criminals in extortion schemes making victims hesitant to come forward to police for fear of retaliation.

Tegucigalpa’s Deputy Police Commissioner Elvis Bonilla Andara explained to the newspaper that steps have been taken to make reporting the crime easier. According to Bonilla Andara, Hondurans can now make complaints anonymously via telephone, a policy that has helped police to capture five alleged extortioners so far in July.

InSight Crime Analysis

In an attempt to combat extortion nationwide, the Honduran government passed legislation in March that increased prison terms for the crime from nine years to 20 years, making the penalty one of the highest in the region for extortion. Honduran security forces also launched an operation that month to patrol the most dangerous bus and taxi routes to help protect drivers from extortion gangs.

Other Central American countries struggle similarly with the crime. In Guatemala, police arrested seven people in June for allegedly extorting close to $500,000 from bus drivers in the capital. This phenomenon reached such levels in El Salvador that bus drivers went on strike in August 2011 to put pressure on their government to increase security against gangs' extortion demands.

Extortion is not just a threat to security, but to development as well. El Heraldo’s report notes that extortion has adverse long term effects on the Honduran economy, causing rising bankruptcy, unemployment, and capital flight.

[Junior]

Urabeños 'Second-in-Command' Arrested in Honduras
Written by Michael Kane, InSight.com
Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The alleged second-in-command of the Colombian Urabeños gang was arrested in Honduras, underscoring the importance of the Central American country as a transhipment point for Colombian cocaine.

Alexander Montoya Usuga, alias “El Flaco,” was arrested in the Honduran city of La Ceiba in a joint operation conducted by Honduran and Colombian authorities. He is wanted by Interpol for his role in an international criminal organization, crimes against humanity, and drug trafficking.

Although a spokesman for Honduran authorities refused to release the details of the arrest, he said that Montoya is expected to be extradited to Colombia soon, where he is charged with homicide and arms trafficking, among other crimes.

Colombian authorities claim that Montoya arrived in Honduras last April on a plane stolen from Bogota's El Dorado airport.

InSight Crime Analysis

According to El Tiempo, Montoya was promoted to second-in-command of the Urabeños following the death of his cousin, Urabeños leader·Juan de Dios Usuga, alias “Giovanni." Giovanni was killed in January during a police raid in northern Colombia. Intelligence reports indicate that Montoya was responsible for managing cocaine trafficking routes from the northern coastal region of Uraba in Colombia.

Those routes, which pass through the Caribbean, have been in place for decades, originally set up by the predecessor of criminal gangs like the Urabeños, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The coastal city of La Ceiba, where Montoya was captured, plays an important role due to its port access to the Caribbean. Testimony from one former AUC member confirmed that many of these routes start in ports near the Uraba gulf in the Caribbean Sea and pass through La Ceiba.

In addition, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Charles Michel of the Southern Command presented a map at a Homeland Security hearing last month illustrating the importance of cocaine trafficking routes from the northern Colombian provinces of Antioquia and Choco to Honduras.

Honduran Defense Minister Marlon Pascua estimated last September that 87 percent of US-bound cocaine from South America passes through Honduras.

[Junior]

Honduras bans guns in violence-hit Colon region
BBC News, August 2, 2012

The Honduran Congress has voted to ban the carrying of weapons in a region beset by land disputes and drug-trafficking violence.

The measure covers Colon province, on the country's Caribbean coast, and home to some of the country's most productive farmland.

The new law prohibits the possession of guns in public, but exempts police, soldiers and private guards.

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate: 86 murders per 100,000 people.

The measure passed by Honduran legislators cancels gun permits and also prohibits transporting weapons in vehicles in Colon.

The area has seen a jump in violence, attributed in part to drug gangs operating there.

There is also an ongoing conflict over land, focussed on the fertile Bajo Aguan valley which is dominated by palm oil plantations.

"The bloodshed that continues taking place must stop and the disarmament of the local population is needed," said Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla.

Dozens of people have been killed in land conflicts over the past couple of years, with farmworkers demanding to be given their own plots.

The violence has prompted the authorities to send extra security forces.

Farmworkers' representatives said they would welcome the ban when it also covered private security guards.

Without guards being disarmed too, farmworkers would be at their mercy, they said.