Honduras Security News

The Public Ministry removed General Ramiro Muñoz Bonilla as head of the National Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DLCN) and appointed Commissioner Ever Danilo Mejía Mejía, who has over 30 years of experience in security and criminal investigation, including 17 years working with US agencies including the DEA and FBI.

A 20-year-old man was arrested in Patuca, Olancho, on a judicial warrant on suspicion of aggravated rape of his 8-year-old niece, authorities said.

A judge has ordered the return of 81 vehicles and four properties to former Police Subcommissioner Jorge Barralaga, who was acquitted of money-laundering charges after spending five and a half years in custody; his defense contests the sale of 23 seized vehicles at below-market prices.

Authorities arrested ex-congressman Víctor Hugo Romero Chinchilla and three others on suspicion of intellectual authorship in a murder and attempted murder in Copán; prosecutors say scientific evidence links him to the crimes and that one may be related to his son's kidnapping.

Honduras has recorded 832 traffic fatalities so far in 2026, with motorcyclists accounting for 46% of deaths and young drivers aged 18–32 most at risk, according to the National Traffic Authority.

The father of Daniel Antonio Meras, accused of killing his wife, nurse Elvia Gómez, in San Manuel, Villanueva, said his son promised to turn himself in to authorities and face justice for the killing.

Police arrested Williams Noé Reyes Izaguirre in Colón as a second suspect in the May 21 massacre of 20 people at an African palm plantation in Rigores, Trujillo; Alexis Molina Mencía, arrested earlier, is believed to have ordered the killings.

Authorities arrested four men in Copán including Víctor Hugo Romero Chinchilla, a former alternate congressman for Libre, on suspicion of murder and attempted homicide; the crimes are allegedly linked to the kidnapping of Romero's son.

Lelis Armando Gabarrete, 38, was fatally shot by gunmen on a motorcycle as he crossed a road near a gas station in San Juan de Opoa, Copán; police are investigating the motive.

Police arrested Carlos Roberto Cruz Velásquez, 49, on an outstanding warrant for the November 2021 death of Cruz Alexander Soto Elvir, whom authorities say he shot while working as a security guard at a pharmacy after the victim allegedly robbed a nearby branch.

Special Cocaine Task Force (FESCCO) agents arrested four people carrying 135 packages of suspected cocaine in Lempira Department and secured judicial detention orders against them.

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

Honduran police are investigating a possible connection between a land sale and the killing of retired teacher Mercedes Martina Turcios in El Rosario, Comayagua, based on evidence gathered at the crime scene.

Elvia Mercedes Gómez, a nurse found dead in her San Manuel home in Cortés, is being investigated as a possible femicide, with her partner the main suspect; the death brings the toll of violent deaths of women in Honduras to at least 112 in 2026.

Honduras's Special Prosecutor for Tax Crimes has recovered more than L31.9 million (roughly $1.28 million USD) in unpaid taxes from smuggling cases in the northern region.

A motorcycle collided with a public bus in the Barandillas neighborhood of San Pedro Sula on Thursday, igniting both vehicles; the motorcycle driver suffered severe burns but was rescued by bystanders and the bus driver before firefighters arrived.

Several current and former Central Bank of Honduras employees, arrested across three departments, are facing charges of negligent mismanagement that allegedly allowed millions in state funds to be illegally diverted, as prosecutors filed 100 counts of imprudent misappropriation against them.

Nilson Alberto Lazo, 34, died Thursday afternoon in Aguas del Padre village when the Siguatepeque fire department's rescue attempt came too late after he became buried in soil.

Police say the shooting death of retired teacher Mercedes Martina Turcios, 62, killed Wednesday in El Rosario, Comayagua, may be connected to a dispute over land sale, with investigators reviewing surveillance footage and working with protected witnesses.

A judge ordered pretrial detention for four men accused of being members of Pandilla 18 who were wanted in La Lima.

National Police arrested two men accused of killing someone following a heated argument while drinking in El Paraíso.

Prosecutors arrested 11 current and former Central Bank of Honduras employees, including two active managers, on suspicion of 100 counts of embezzlement tied to the systematic theft of public funds over several years.

Rights groups have recorded 108 femicides in Honduras through late May 2026, with activists noting more mutilated victims and a 95% impunity rate that leaves killers largely unpunished.

Carlos Alexis Mencía, known as 'El Gato Negro,' was arrested Tuesday in La Ceiba as the main suspect in the May 21 massacre at an African palm plantation in Rigores, Colón.

A court found five members of Pandilla 18 guilty of murdering a girl in the Santa Teresita neighborhood, according to the Public Ministry.

Following a deadly dump-truck accident in Tegucigalpa, Honduras's road police are launching nationwide operations to verify that heavy-truck drivers hold proper licenses and to check for speeding and impaired driving.

A court ordered pretrial detention for Jefry Josseth Guardado Herrera and Elí Nahúm Guerra, accused of involvement in a May clash at the Corinto border post that killed five members of a defunct anti-gang police unit.

Honduras's environmental enforcement unit FEMA carried out an operation in the village of San Isidro, Santa Cruz de Yojoa, arresting four people and seizing heavy machinery.

Cousins Javier Enrique Alvarado Dilbert, 29, and Leo Isell Dilbert Grijalba, 18, were shot while riding a motorcycle on a San Pedro Sula boulevard early Thursday; one died at the scene and the other was hospitalized in serious condition while police investigate the motive.

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.