Honduras Security News

A man turned himself in to national police in Copán on suspicion of aggravated femicide.

National Police arrested a Guatemalan citizen and confiscated about 7 lb (3.2 kg) of suspected marijuana at the El Florido border checkpoint.

Police in Sulaco, Yoro arrested three suspected members of the Cartel del Diablo on charges of aggravated kidnapping and criminal association, including a man accused of collecting ransom payments for the organization.

Police arrested 60 people accused of gang membership during the first week of Operation Shield Honduras, a 70-day nationwide security crackdown launched by President Nasry Asfura; MS-13 accounted for 30 of those detained, the 18th Street Gang for 26, and the Devil Cartel for four.

A man and woman were killed in an armed attack at Comayagua's general cemetery on October 24; authorities are investigating a possible drug-related debt as a motive.

Jesús Fuentes Mejía was killed by armed gunmen in the La Cultura neighborhood of Yoro on Saturday night; police prevented his family from removing the body until forensic procedures were completed.

Police arrested two men identified as key MS-13 operatives in Choloma and seized two AR-15 rifles, a grenade launcher, drugs, and ammunition in a targeted operation.

A 6-year-old girl and her parents were rescued unharmed from La Tigra National Park in Francisco Morazán after becoming lost while hiking; firefighters located them in El Rosario village with no medical complications despite exposure to overnight cold.

National Police arrested at least two suspected members of the Pandilla 18 gang in Choloma and seized multiple firearms, a grenade launcher, and alleged drugs during an operation in the Kilómetro sector.

Forensic geneticists at Honduras's Institute for Forensic Sciences completed an eight-week virtual training program led by Guatemalan experts, covering advanced DNA analysis, quality management, and mitochondrial DNA techniques to strengthen criminal investigations.

A 25-year-old from San Pedro Sula was arrested for using AI-created payment receipts to defraud high-end phone sellers on Facebook Marketplace; police say she has 22 fraud complaints since 2022.

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.

A 43-year-old doctor in Talanga, Francisco Morazán, was ordered held in pretrial detention after a court hearing on charges he attempted to sexually assault a 20-year-old nurse colleague on October 21.

Darwin Centeno, a territorial defender in the Garífuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Tela, was arrested for 13 hours without a warrant on allegations of illegal weapons possession and disrespect to authorities; advocates say no weapon was found and he suffered beatings during the arrest.

A security guard was shot and killed during an armed robbery at a diner in San Juan Pueblo, Atlantida; surveillance footage captured two suspects fleeing the scene.

Police arrested a suspect in the death of Wilmer Enmanuel Cruz Corea, 21, in Piraera, Lempira, after investigators say the man attacked him with a wooden object while intoxicated.

At least ten people were hospitalized Friday after a minibus and pickup truck collided head-on on Highway CA-5 in Carrizal, Taulabé, Comayagua, with both vehicles sustaining severe damage.

The Public Ministry formally charged prosecutor Bayron Ibrán Valle Ardón with aggravated violence against a woman, extortion, and illegal entry for allegedly using his office to enter his ex-partner's home without a warrant in Catacamas on April 25, 2025, and demand 6,000 lempiras to avoid her arrest.

Prosecutors filed opposition to a court order that would release Óscar Ramírez Melgar, accused of killing law student María Fernanda Alemán in February 2025, arguing that pretrial detention is legally required and that his release poses a risk to witnesses and the victim's family.

Police antidrug and community security units seized 131 pounds (about 59 kg) of suspected marijuana hidden in a vehicle in the La Bolsa neighborhood of Tocoa, Colón, as part of a national operation against drug trafficking organizations.

A Nicaraguan man was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 102,651 lempiras (about $4,100) after accepting responsibility for laundering $10,210 in undeclared cash seized at the El Amatillo border crossing in August.

National Police arrested multiple suspected members of MS-13 and Pandilla 18 across Honduras during coordinated operations that yielded firearms, over 300 pounds of marijuana, and other evidence linked to drug trafficking and extortion.

A 15-year-old girl, Bany Danely Muñoz Mejía, was found dead in the remote hamlet of El Chaparrón in Zacapa, Santa Bárbara; authorities are investigating the circumstances, with family members suspecting a crime of passion.

A National Police officer, Cristian Fabricio Blandín Arriaza, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the April 2026 killing of Ángelo Uriel García Murillo, a young man who left home to deliver medicine to his mother in La Ceiba.

Criminal investigators conducted simultaneous raids on four underground lottery businesses in San Pedro Sula, seizing electronic devices, records, and cash while investigating trademark violations and unlicensed gambling operations.

Eight members of the Armed Forces were wounded when a soldier found and accidentally detonated a propellant casing during land-clearing work at the First Field Artillery Battalion in Francisco Morazán; five suffered minor injuries and three sustained more serious wounds.

Honduras's Constitutional Court admitted an appeal by Óscar Ramírez, accused of killing law student María Fernanda Alemán in February 2025, and ordered his provisional release; a judge will review his detention status on October 22.

Two anti-extortion unit (DAET) agents were arrested for investigation after alleged cocaine, marijuana, and crack were found in a San Pedro Sula house administered by a state asset-management office and assigned to their unit, with authorities probing why the seized drugs were never processed through legal channels.

Gloria Marina López Pineda went to trial in San Pedro Sula on charges of killing her newborn daughter with a knife in May 2025; prosecutors presented forensic and witness evidence, while the defense offered documentary proof.

Yerlyn David Sagastume, 37, a deaf and mute auto painter, disappeared on October 11 near a gas station in Villanueva, Cortés; authorities ask anyone with information to call 9624-4544.