March 9, 2021
The Bureau of international Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs from the State Department published the new report on March 2021 and stated that “the political will of the Government of Honduras continues to work with US law enforcement to combat drug trafficking.”
The report added that “the Government of Honduras doesn’t, as a matter of government official policy, encourage or facilitate illicit drug production or distribution, nor is it involve in laundering the proceeds of the sale of illicit drugs.”
(PRNewsfoto/Government of Honduras)
The President of Honduras addressed last week the Congress to present new laws and reforms to toughen the fight against transnational crime and stated “he will not stop fighting against evil until the last day of his mandate”
The Attorney General, who is elected by Congress, created a new anti-corruption unit as part of the efforts to combat corruption.
According to the report the “Supply Reduction During the first nine months of 2020” are:
Honduran authorities claimed to have seized approximately 2.8 metric tons (MT) of cocaine, exceeding the 2.2 MT seized during the 2019 calendar year.
New vessels purchased by the Honduran Navy are not active in counterdrug operations due to lack of fuel (which also restricts proactive boarding) and an inadequate maintenance budget. In October of last year, President Hernandez lamented Honduras’ security forces limited aviation counterdrug capabilities, due to the budgetary limitations imposed by the covid pandemic.
The Ministry of Defense (MOD) shares vital information with U.S. authorities, but operational elements within the Honduran Navy are limited in their ability to act on this information because of resource constraints and lack of communications infrastructure.
The Communication Intercept Unit (UIC) controls judicial intercept facilities and the U.S. government works closely with vetted Honduran law enforcement units to improve access to these facilities and operations against intelligence generated. Honduran authorities executed a six-week counternarcotics operation, Operation Dominio, with U.S. entities during May and June that yielded 212 kilograms in cocaine seizures.
The MOD reported the destruction of 34 clandestine airstrips used for transshipment of narcotics during the first ten months of 2020.
The revised Honduran ASL enacted in August prohibits shooting down or damaging suspected narcotrafficking aircraft. The law is the first step to share radar or other information related to airborne drug trafficking with Honduran authorities. The Honduran government does not have the capacity to track all suspected drug trafficking flights without outside support.
National Goals, Bilateral Cooperation, and U.S. Policy Initiatives
The United States provides assistance to Honduras through the Central America Regional Security Initiative.
The United States engages with Honduran authorities to deny drug traffickers the use of Honduran territory, increase seizures, facilitate extraditions of traffickers, support Honduras-based prosecutions, and build stronger security presence in affected areas.
Since the passage of the revised ASL, the U.S. government has been working closely with the Honduran government to create a Joint Interagency Operations Center (JIOC) to coordinate interdiction operations and information sharing between the Honduran military, police, investigators, and prosecutors.
The United States will support the JIOC to equip the facility and develop necessary policies and standard operating procedures.
The United States government provides advisory and logistical support and equipment to various Honduran National Police (HNP) directorates, the Public Ministry, and the military to improve Honduras’ capacity to disrupt drug trafficking.
U.S.-supported HNP vetted units include the Sensitive Investigations Unit, the Transnational Anti-Gang Unit, and the Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit, which address drug trafficking and other transnational criminal activity.
Honduras is a participant in the Multilateral Maritime Counter Drug Summit, which brings together over 150 maritime counter drug professionals from North, Central, and South America and Europe to foster dialogue between maritime and justice sectors representing source, transit, and destination countries.
The United States continues to help build the capacity of Honduran institutions to combat drug trafficking, corruption, and other criminal issues. While the Honduran authorities demonstrated improved capacity to conduct interdictions in 2020.
President Hernandez stated that “despite the great limitations imposed by the pandemic we achieved a lot against drug trafficking, transnational crime, maras and gangs, building a more secure and peaceful Honduras”.