Organized Crime

The Judicial School held a national gathering of specialized judges on organized crime, environmental, and corruption cases, aimed at strengthening judicial capacity and rule-of-law enforcement with support from the U.S. Embassy's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau.

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.

Honduran authorities intercepted a shipment containing two AR-15 rifles, two fragmentation grenades, two empty magazines, and military uniforms at a bus depot in Puerto Cortés on July 10, sparking an investigation into the intended recipient and a suspected criminal organization.

Reina Fabiola Salinas Cáceres was convicted of unlawful association after prosecutors argued she was an active member of Pandilla 18 (18th Street Gang), not merely the partner of gang leader Ricky Alexander Zelaya Camacho, alias 'Boxer Huber,' who was arrested in 2017.

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 judge held an initial hearing against Wilmer Alexander Mejía Medina on charges of extorting a protected witness, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 21.

Experts say about 20% of Honduras's homicides involve attackers on motorcycles, a tactic that allows rapid execution and escape; a 2012 law banning two men per bike in certain municipalities remains poorly enforced.

More than 8,000 Honduran women have been murdered since 2005, with 139 cases recorded through June 2026, and the OV-UNAH warns crimes are growing more brutal, with patterns linked to organized crime.

Residents of the Loarque neighborhood in southern Tegucigalpa discovered a dismembered body stuffed in a sack that unknown assailants threw from a vehicle; the victim's identity remains unknown.

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.

National Police Director Rigoberto Oseguera Mass has reinstated officers previously removed by a 2016–2018 purge, including Francisco Javier Leiva Gamoneda, accused in a 2016 investigation of involvement in the 2009 killing of a drug-enforcement director, and Jorge Alberto Barralaga Hernández, convicted of money laundering in 2021.

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.

A specialized national tribunal convicted six people of drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, and criminal association; sentencing is scheduled for August 7.

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.

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.

National Police arrested a 42-year-old man from Guayape, Olancho, on an outstanding murder warrant, identifying him as the suspected leader of the criminal organization known as 'El Zanate,' which operates in that municipality.

Honduras's Congress unanimously passed a law requiring businesses to disclose their true beneficial owners in a new centralized registry, aiming to combat money laundering, corruption, and terrorist financing.

Prosecutors in San Pedro Sula filed charges against 18 people linked to drug-trafficking offenses.

Honduras's Public Ministry seized 104 illicit assets—including 40 vehicles, 38 financial products, 19 real-estate properties, and seven businesses—linked to a fugitive with ties to the criminal organization Los Pinto, after detecting an unexplained gap of 418 million lempiras (about $16.7 million) in his financial movements.

A congressional committee approved a bill that would impose life sentences and other severe penalties for killing or attempting to kill police, soldiers, judges, and other security and justice officials in connection with their duties, with the measure now headed to a floor vote.

A specialized national court in Honduras opened proceedings against four men accused of murder, attempted murder, and criminal association in a killing in the western part of the country.

Honduran armed forces report inflicting L324 million (roughly $13 million) in losses on drug trafficking networks so far in 2026 through crop destruction, lab dismantling, and seizures of cocaine, weapons, and vehicles, even as criminal groups shift routes and rebuild.

A national criminal court in San Pedro Sula ordered four suspects—William Exón Romero Mejía, Dayana Daribel Maradiaga Mejía, Junior Noel Nufio Rodríguez, and Mario Joel Larios Chavarría—held in pretrial detention on charges of aggravated drug trafficking after allegedly transporting 241 packages of dried cannabis.

Prosecutors have formally charged a man accused of orchestrating four murders, including the killing of a son of former president Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

A judge scheduled June 9 for the ruling in the initial hearing against three former San Pedro Sula municipal officials, including the mayor's son-in-law, accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in a scheme that prosecutors say caused losses exceeding 45.5 million lempiras.

Five National Police officers were killed in a violent ambush at a house in Corinto belonging to a leader of a criminal organization linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel; investigators say about 150 gang members participated in the attack.

A judge scheduled a June 9 preliminary-hearing ruling on whether to send three former San Pedro Sula municipal officials — including the son-in-law of Mayor Roberto 'El Pollo' Contreras — to trial on charges of money laundering, influence peddling, and fraud tied to road contracts worth over 45.5 million lempiras (about $1.8 million) that prosecutors say were never lawfully executed.

The National Defense and Security Council approved the permanent closure of Dipampco after an oversight commission found protocol violations, illegal raids, negligence, and possible cover-up in a mission where five officers died, and authorities plan to replace it with a new specialized criminal-investigation unit.

The Asfura government dissolved the Dipampco police anti-gang unit and created a new Anti-Extortion Division led by Commissioner Jorge Daniel Molina Gálvez, who faces two prior prosecutorial charges for illegal detention and abuse of authority, drawing concern from human-rights groups.

Authorities are investigating whether the May 21 massacre of 20 people in Rigores, Trujillo, was retaliation for the February killing of Ruth Nohemy Monroy, 17, the wife of recently arrested gang leader Alexis Molina Mencía.