Honduras Security News

Rescue workers recovered the body of a 9-year-old girl from the wreckage of a runaway dump truck that lost its brakes in the Villa Nueva neighborhood, bringing the death toll to eight.

Denia Marisol Ramírez Ortiz, 34, and Evelyn Yasmín Irías Hernández, 26, were among eight people killed in a crash in Tegucigalpa's Villa Nueva neighborhood; families remembered them as hardworking women devoted to their families and faith.

Officials and transport-sector representatives are calling for tougher enforcement of traffic laws, modern monitoring technology, and stricter driver-license suspension rules to reduce deaths in accidents involving heavy trucks.

A Honduran court has convicted 11 former agents of DIPAMPCO, a now-defunct police unit, the Public Ministry announced.

Security Minister Gerzon Velásquez said officers of the National Police who fail mandatory vetting examinations—including polygraph and drug tests—will be removed from the force, while those passing but lacking investigative skills will be reassigned.

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.

A young man has agreed to an abbreviated legal procedure in connection with the killing of a resident in Lepaterique, prosecutors announced.

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.

The National Police began vetting 780 officers for the new Anti-Extortion and Terrorist Associations Division (Daet), which replaces the disbanded Dipampco unit and will focus on extortion, criminal networks, and organized-crime operations.

A dump truck that was apparently out of control plowed into vehicles and structures in the Villa Nueva neighborhood of Tegucigalpa at midday on June 1, killing nine people.

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.

A court found 11 former Dipampco agents guilty of kidnapping, robbery, and planting weapons and drugs on a Filipino citizen during an illegal 2023 raid in Villanueva, Cortés.

The National Police announced that approximately 90% of officers from the disbanded anti-gang unit Dipampco will not transfer to the new Anti-Extortion and Terrorist Associations Division (DAET), which requires specialized training and certified personnel, with the remainder potentially reassigned elsewhere.

Seven people were killed and 37 traffic accidents reported across Honduras over the weekend, according to César Aguilar of the national traffic authority (DNVT).

Students, graduates, and colleagues in Cofradía, Cortés have flooded social media with tributes to Víctor Fiallos, the beloved founder and principal of Instituto Polivalente Gubernamental Brisas del Valle, whose killing authorities are still investigating.

Attorney Ángel Murillo was sworn in as director of the ATIC criminal investigation agency as Honduras undertakes a broader security overhaul, including the new National Crime Agency and a replacement anti-extortion division after five officers died in a botched raid.

Honduran National Police seized a marijuana plantation during a raid in Guaimaca, Francisco Morazán, according to police.

More than 120 National Police officers took part in a saturation operation in Chamelecón, San Pedro Sula, aimed at curbing crime and strengthening security in the area.

Police arrested a man known as 'Cabeza de Toro,' a suspected member of the gang 'El Combo Que No Se Deja,' in the El Bosque neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, seizing 80 packets of alleged crack, marijuana, and cocaine along with a prohibited rifle.

Antonio Reyes, about 35, was shot and killed by armed assailants while riding a motorcycle in the San Juan neighborhood of Guaimaca, Francisco Morazán, with more than 12 shell casings found at the scene.

Honduran armed forces have destroyed more than 515,000 coca bushes across at least 25 illegal plantations and nine drug-processing sites in six departments so far this year, including a newly secured crop of 16,500 plants in Colón.

Officers carried out a raid in the village of Talgua, Salamá, Olancho, detaining one man on drug trafficking charges.

Honduran police captured a suspected hitman linked to the criminal gang "El Yoni" in Nacaome, Valle, on charges of attempted murder and criminal association.

Following an unauthorized operation in Corinto, Cortés, that killed five officers, Honduras dissolved the Dipamco anti-gang police unit and fired its top commanders, who now face disciplinary and criminal proceedings.

Víctor Fiallos, principal of Polivalente Brisas del Valle school in Cofradía, Cortés, was found dead on the premises, one day after a student at the same school also died under unexplained circumstances under investigation by authorities.

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.

Honduras's National Police Commissioner Jorge Daniel Molina announced that most of the former DIPAMPCO unit's officers will be excluded from the new Anti-Extortion and Terrorist Associations Division, which will accept only personnel who pass vetting and certification tests.

A judge in San Pedro Sula ordered the pre-trial detention of Germán David Gómez Escobar and Mauricio Yandel Alvarado Montoya, accused of murdering three students in El Progreso, with an initial hearing set for June 3.

Denilson Josué Vásquez Cortés, 27, died after suffering an electric shock while plugging in a phone charger in the village of Matón Quemado, Talanga, as authorities investigate the cause; police data show nine electrocution deaths in Honduras so far this year.

The National Defense and Security Council, led by President Nasry Asfura, approved new security measures including disbanding the DIPAMPCO anti-gang directorate and restructuring specialized units to more effectively combat organized crime.