Gang Extortion

Authorities announced interventions at multiple schools in Tegucigalpa after detecting cases of extortion by students against classmates and teachers, with some suspects allegedly tied to criminal organizations.

Criminal groups are extorting schools and teachers across Honduras, forcing private schools to close or relocate and displacing over 550 educators in 2026, while the Education Ministry demands written complaints before taking action.

Transport industry leaders and government officials, including the Anti-Extortion and Terrorist Associations Division, agreed to strengthen joint efforts against extortion targeting drivers and bus companies while improving road safety and order in major cities.

Jorge Lanza, a transport leader, says the sector pays over 18 billion lempiras (about $720 million) annually to extortionists and calls for stronger government strategies to combat the problem.

Urban and intercity bus operators suspended service across Tegucigalpa on July 9 to demand government security action, a day after conductor Juan Carlos Flores was shot dead on the Mateo-Tapias-Mercado route and amid months of killings and extortion targeting the sector.

Police arrested two alleged members of the 18th Street Gang caught collecting extortion payments from transport operators and small business owners in Amarateca, seizing cash, phones, and a motorcycle.

An estimated 423,845 Hondurans have been internally displaced by criminal threats, extortion, and violence, while over 262,000 others sought international protection abroad by end-2025, with climate change and economic vulnerability compounding the pressures driving flight.

Honduras's public-transport sector reports paying roughly 500 million lempiras (about $20 million) annually to criminal gangs, with some bus and taxi routes in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula now shuttered due to threats and attacks on drivers.

Juan Guardado Portillo, 49, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle in Choloma on June 10; police suspect gang members demanding extortion were behind the attack, which also wounded a teenage passenger.

The vice president of the Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce warned that while Honduras has made macroeconomic progress, inflation, insecurity, unemployment, and extortion continue to prevent those gains from improving living standards for ordinary Hondurans.