Drug Trafficking

Intelligence reports say the Coleman organization, which works for the Sinaloa cartel, controls maritime drug-smuggling routes at Puerto Cortés; one member was arrested during Operation Mare Nostrum on August 3, but leader Luis Felipe Aguilera Coleman escaped.

Investigative reporting traces how the Mexican cartel Los Zetas expanded control over cocaine corridors from South America through Central America to Mexico, including routes through Honduras, after eliminating a Guatemalan rival clan in 2008 and directly confronting Honduran police in Copán in 2011.

Military police arrested a suspected drug distributor in the La Rosa neighborhood of Comayagüela and seized nine wraps of cocaine, twenty of crack cocaine, and two of marijuana, along with a mobile phone for investigation.

A federal indictment in New York accuses Yulan Andony Archaga Carías, alias 'Porky', of running MS-13 in Honduras as a criminal enterprise that smuggled cocaine to the US, rented hitmen to drug traffickers, supplied machine guns, and ordered murders of rivals and disloyal gang members.

National Police arrested two men suspected of drug trafficking in separate operations in Talanga and Guaimaca.

Fermín Alberto García Isaza, a Colombian wanted by Colombia since 2010 for drug trafficking and linked to a 211-kilogram cocaine seizure in Honduras in 2015, was arrested in Puerto Lempira and will face extradition proceedings.

A poll shows 55.3% of Hondurans disapprove of President Trump's pardon of former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in New York in 2024 on drug-trafficking and weapons charges and returned to Honduras on July 26.

Prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence for Luis Francisco Núñez Santos, convicted of transporting drugs, during a sentencing hearing in San Pedro Sula.

Police arrested a 20-year-old suspected MS-13 member accused of distributing cocaine, marijuana, and crack in El Progreso, Yoro, seizing drugs and a cellphone.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández landed at Palmerola International Airport on Sunday, July 26, after receiving a US presidential pardon following his narcotics conviction, and now faces a separate Honduran judicial process in the Pandora II corruption case.

Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez's homily about how drug traffickers and criminals bury illicit money triggered debate among lawmakers, with some urging caution in linking politicians to crime and others arguing the problem extends far beyond cash to property, businesses, and major investments.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández, freed after a US pardon erased his 45-year drug-trafficking sentence, will return voluntarily to Honduras this Sunday to face domestic charges of fraud and money laundering, after a Honduran judge suspended the international arrest warrant against him.

National Police arrested a man in Tegucigalpa and seized 70 packets of cocaine, 20 packets of marijuana, and 80 bags of crack cocaine.

Erlis Antonio León Castellanos, a Honduran convicted by US courts, ran a strategic storage farm near the Honduras-Guatemala border where the Valle Valle cartel cached cocaine shipments—ranging from 15–20 kg to hundreds of kilos—before routing them through Guatemala and Mexico to the United States.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man in La Lima, Cortés, on an outstanding warrant for drug trafficking issued in July 2024.

National Police arrested two men in Dulce Nombre de Culmí, Olancho, on suspicion of trafficking cocaine after finding 10 and 5 small bags of white powder in their possession during a raid.

A San Pedro Sula court sentenced José Nectaly Mejía Castellanos to 22 years in prison and permanent disqualification from public office for criminal association, illegal firearms possession, and drug trafficking.

A court in Puerto Lempira ordered Stedman Reyes Valle held in pretrial detention on suspicion of illegal weapons possession and drug trafficking.

Olvin Javier Velásquez Maldonado, 40, was sentenced to more than four years in prison for conspiring to transport 24 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a boat traveling from Utila to Louisiana in 2022; his fingerprints on the drug packaging provided key evidence.

National Police arrested a 30-year-old security guard in Choloma during a preventive operation and seized several packets of suspected marijuana and cocaine; he faces charges of drug trafficking.

Police arrested Marvin Ariel Barrera García, a 23-year-old wanted on drug-trafficking charges, during a routine security check at a public-transport hub in San Pedro Sula on July 18.

Police in Yoro arrested three suspected members of Los Kiwis, a gang linked to the Devil's Cartel, seizing two firearms, cocaine, cash, and surveillance equipment from a drug-distribution hub.

Police arrested a couple accused of drug trafficking and seized cocaine, cash totaling more than 60,000 lempiras (about $2,400), firearms, and surveillance equipment from a distribution hub in Las Flores, Lempira.

National Police arrested a man suspected of drug trafficking in Juticalpa, Olancho.

The National Police graduated 20 officers as specialists in anti-drug tactical operations after completing a training course designed to strengthen capabilities against drug trafficking and organized crime.

A court ordered Anyi Yariela Mejía Interiano, 28, to stand trial for aggravated drug trafficking after police seized 154 packages of suspected cocaine and $2,000 in cash from a vehicle she was driving in Namasigüe on June 29; her mother received provisional dismissal.

A 20-year-old suspected member of the 18th Street Gang (Pandilla 18) was arrested in the Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula; authorities seized approximately 7,928 lempiras (about $318), cocaine, and a mototaxi vehicle.

Police arrested two suspects on drug-trafficking charges following an operation in Catacamas, Olancho.

Police arrested an adult and a minor on suspicion of drug trafficking in Choloma, Cortés.

Prosecutors seized 228 assets worth over 420 million lempiras (about $17 million) linked to the Los Domínguez criminal organization in a simultaneous operation across Choluteca and Valle departments, including property, businesses, and financial accounts allegedly connected to drug trafficking and money laundering.