Kidnapping

A Honduran judge has reactivated the criminal case against Marco Antonio Ávila Castellanos, accused in the 1997 kidnapping and death of Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu (son of former president Ricardo Maduro), nearly three decades after the crime; Ávila Castellanos was arrested in October 2026 and remains jailed pending trial under the old penal code.

The National Police's anti-kidnapping unit rescued a young man unharmed after he was allegedly abducted by suspected gang members in Santa Cruz de Yojoa.

Víctor Isaías Sánchez Flores, reported missing after being intercepted by unknown individuals in the capital, was found dead in Corralitos, Francisco Morazán; his abandoned vehicle bore a bullet hole in the windshield.

A judge ordered four members of the National Police's Intelligence Directorate (Dipol) held pending trial for allegedly kidnapping a 17-year-old from Tegucigalpa on August 30 and demanding 600,000 lempiras (about $24,000) for his release.

Four officers from the police intelligence directorate were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a minor in Tegucigalpa on August 30; the child's family received a ransom demand for 600,000 lempiras (about $24,000) and was warned not to contact authorities.

Authorities arrested Orbin Enrique Velásquez Mendoza, alias Torba, a 29-year-old suspected member of the Berna criminal organization, on a warrant linked to the June 2024 kidnapping and disappearance of José Octavio Sosa Méndez and 11 others near Puerto Cortés.

A 50-year-old merchant was rescued alive in a mountainous area of Santa Rita, Copán, after being held for several days by kidnappers who demanded 2 million lempiras (about $80,000).

Police arrested Eduin Raúl Portillo Pereira, 24, on suspicion of kidnapping and killing his girlfriend Ingrid Gabriela Cruz after her body was found in a mountainous area of Francisco Morazán; he allegedly confessed to the killing.

The National Anti-Kidnapping Unit rescued a man held for ransom in Linaca, Choluteca, after kidnappers posing as customers demanded 500,000 lempiras (about $20,000); police say the case is one of 17 virtual kidnappings this year, allegedly orchestrated by a transnational network of Colombians and Hondurans.

Police arrested Jhoel Salomón Pineda García, 31, known as "El Peludo," a suspect in a kidnapping in Yoro in which the perpetrators demanded three million lempiras (about $120,000).

Harold Ulloa Ramos, 17, was kidnapped by two men on motorcycles near Santa Rita, Yoro, on August 3 and found decapitated the following morning, with his head left on a roadside and his body discovered separately.

Police and anti-kidnapping units rescued a 5-year-old girl and her caregiver in Las Vegas, Santa Bárbara, after kidnappers demanded 7 million lempiras (about $280,000) and abandoned them when officers flooded the area.

Four cousins—ages 14, 15, 20, and undisclosed—were kidnapped from their homes in La Ceiba, Atlántida, and later found dead and bound in two locations across the city.

A 37-year-old employee of a battery firm was rescued by Honduras's Anti-Kidnapping Unit after criminals lured him to a rural area near Santa Lucía, Francisco Morazán, and demanded 300,000 lempiras (about $12,000) for his release, marking part of a growing pattern of abductions targeting delivery and field workers.

National Police rescued a five-month-old child who had been kidnapped and was being transported in a suitcase in Puerto Lempira; the infant has been reunited with his mother.

Honduras has recorded eight cases of people staging their own kidnappings in 2026, concentrated in San Pedro Sula, according to police; authorities and human rights groups attribute the crimes to economic hardship and emotional distress, with some perpetrators seeking ransom money to fund migration or escape family troubles.

Pedro Alexander Díaz Franco, a 15-year-old Honduran TikTok content creator, was kidnapped on July 5 in Choloma and later found dead in plastic bags along a highway, sparking international media coverage and outrage on social media.

A video has emerged of the abduction of journalist Roxana Guzmán, with her mother reacting to the footage.

Carlos Alberto Castillo was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in the September 2024 abduction of a nurse in San Pedro Sula, in which captors demanded 30 million lempiras (about $1.2 million) in ransom; authorities rescued the victim three days later after he was held in a Choloma house.

Police arrested four members of the criminal gang known as Los Sagastume on June 25, accused of kidnapping businessman Héctor Eduardo Lisser Pinto in April 2025; the victim was rescued after 36 hours in captivity.

Police rescued a student held for ransom in Siguatepeque after kidnappers demanded 2 million lempiras (about $80,000) for his release.

A man has been convicted of aggravated kidnapping and rape after luring victims with false promises of employment in Honduras.

National Police arrested a suspected participant in the kidnapping of a VIP taxi driver who was rescued alive in Santa Bárbara.