Honduran Authorities Unearth Tons of Buried Cocaine in Country's Northern Village
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - JULY 20: A boy walks through a neighborhood with heavy gang violence on July 20, 2012 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Honduras now has the highest per capita murder rate in the world and its capital city, Tegucigalpa, is plagued by violence, poverty, homelessness and sexual assaults. With an estimated 80% of the coaine entering the United States now being trans-shipped through Honduras, the violence on the streets is a spillover from the ramped rise in narco-trafficking. (Photo : Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
After being accused by the United States as the 'co-conspirator' in drug trafficking, the Police in Honduras excavated 1.5 tons of cocaine buried in the ground of a small village in the northern portion of the country.
Based on the statement of the Honduran police, they have found around 1,450 packets of drugs. All of it was hidden inside 58 sacks buried in three large holes dug using heavy machinery. The drugs had apparently been brought to Francia, which is an area close to the coast.
According to WION, Miguel Perez, the head of the special forces police directorate, shared that the haul was the result of intelligence work and demonstrates the hard work done by the National Police Honduras in coordination with other institutions in the country. Perez also added that their target is to dismantle drug structures that operate in the country.
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Just this year, the Honduran police mentioned in their statement that they have seized more than eight tons of drugs.
Moreover, the Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez has stepped up the fight against drug cartels. Even his own brother, Tony was found guilty in the U.S. court in October 2019 of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S.
Last March, the Honduran President's brother, former Congressman Tony Hernandez, was sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking and other charges.
Meanwhile, during his trial, the U.S. government argued that the former congressman in Honduras was a large-scale drug trafficker. The U.S. government also accused that Tony smuggled more than 185 tons of cocaine into the U.S.
However, Judge P Kevin Castel found that Tony Hernandez had acted as an intermediary in providing bribes to politicians, which includes his own brother, the president of Honduras, and the ruling of the National Party, Department of Justice reported.
In addition, U.S. prosecutors also stated that the Honduran President had been a 'co-conspirator' in other crimes that were committed by his brother. But so far, the Honduran president has not faced any charges.
Furthermore, President Hernandez, who styled himself as a champion in the fight against drugs, has continuously denied all of the allegations and his connection to drug trafficking.
On the other hand, a New York jury found Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez guilty of drug trafficking March this year. Ramirez is an associate of the Honduran president.
During the trial of President Hernandez's associate, prosecutors in the U.S. stated that the Honduran leader had helped Fuentes smuggle tons of cocaine into the country.
But President Hernandez accuses the justice system of the US of giving credibility to drug lords who seek "revenge" for having been extradited to the United States by his government.
Cocaine Spike
On March 19, the Honduras police had their largest seizure when they discovered 1.6 tons of cocaine stored at a vacant lot in the Iriona municipality, Colón. Just weeks later, authorities also found 911 kilos of cocaine stored at a bodega in a nearby town. InsightCrime reported.
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