Browse Honduras Daily Stories

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.

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.

Congress will advance a motion supporting the government's push to build a high-security prison for gang and organized-crime members, with plans to define the site, costs, and funding sources to begin construction within eight to ten months.

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.

A Honduran court scheduled closing arguments in the trial of four people accused in the Delta Teams case—including alleged human trafficking and the disappearance of young Honduran Angie Peña on January 1, 2022—for October 23, with a verdict to follow.

Colonel Karlthers Medina, former director of Támara prison, has been placed on administrative leave while authorities investigate his role in an L8 million (about $320,000) shortage in the prison canteen funds during his tenure.

Authorities have charged 45 people—23 linked to MS-13, 19 to Barrio 18, and three to Cartel del Diablo—with membership in terrorist organizations following raids between September 21 and October 16; 25 have been formally indicted and 20 await hearings.

The military gave Col. Juan Carlos Osorto Castillo a dishonorable discharge following an internal honor tribunal that recommended his separation amid an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of 8 million lempiras from the Támara prison canteen system.

The National Congress president says lawmakers are preparing major reforms to criminal and procedural codes—including no parole for members of designated terrorist groups and allowing prosecution based on gang tattoos alone—pending the Supreme Court's legal opinion.

Honduras reported three deaths during the Morazán holiday period—two by drowning and one in a traffic accident—as 23 government agencies, 33,000 volunteers, and emergency responders coordinated rescue and medical services nationwide.

Honduran police confiscated more than 550 driver's licenses during traffic enforcement operations over the Morazán holiday weekend for violations of traffic laws.

On the first day of Honduras's Morazán Week holiday, authorities conducted 1,510 breathalyzer tests and found 47 positive results, confiscating 121 driving licenses and 11 vehicles as part of nationwide safety operations.

Honduran police arrested a man wanted on an international red notice for his alleged involvement in the killing of two environmental defenders after three years as a fugitive.

Honduras is deploying 33,000 security and medical personnel across 1,384 checkpoints, 187 tourist sites, and 304 ambulances for the Morazán holiday weekend to manage expected mass travel and respond to emergencies.

An appeals court confirmed formal charges against four people, including former Koriun Inversiones manager Iván Velásquez Castro, on money-laundering, weapons, and criminal-association charges stemming from the large-scale investment fraud scheme.

Honduras's National Penitentiary Institute has suspended visits at four facilities and created a special profiling team to identify and relocate inmates convicted or accused of terrorism-related offenses to maximum-security units, implementing measures mandated by recent legislative reform.

A new law requiring individual isolation and maximum-security confinement for prisoners identified as members of terrorist organizations, gangs, or maras took effect after publication in the official gazette on September 26.

Honduras's National Police director says major leaders of MS-13, Barrio 18, and the Devil's Cartel remain at large or direct criminal operations from prison, with no top MS-13 chiefs arrested in four years despite U.S. rewards of up to $10 million for their capture.

Congress has sent proposed criminal-code reforms to the Supreme Court that would allow police to arrest suspected gang and cartel members and search homes without judicial warrants in high-risk zones, with prosecutors validating the actions afterward.

Gang and organized-crime conflicts rank as the second leading cause of homicides in Honduras at 13% of killings from 2014 to April 2026, with one in three violent deaths in Francisco Morazán and 26% in Cortés attributed to gang violence.

Honduras's human-rights ombudsman says the state has failed to implement most recommendations from a 2023 alert on protecting inmates' rights, including emergency protocols, evacuation plans, and medical readiness in prisons.

Congress and the National Penitentiary Institute met to discuss and approve reforms to strengthen security in Honduras's prisons, including special controls on communications and maximum-security transfers for members of organizations designated as terrorist groups.

Prosecutors have charged 11 Central Bank of Honduras employees and former employees with negligent embezzlement for allowing ex-prosecutor Francia Medina to withdraw L88.8 million (about $3.5 million) in seized evidence from bank vaults without proper authorization.

Employees of the fraudulent medical clinic Nueva Med say its Colombian management fabricated medical credentials, threatened workers into silence with confidentiality contracts, and used call centers with Honduran databases to solicit patients for costly fake treatments.

The National Defense and Security Council declared three criminal organizations terrorist associations in an overnight meeting at the presidential palace on September 18, with the groups' names to be announced once enforcement actions begin.

The National Road and Transportation Authority reported 1,449 deaths and more than 13,400 traffic accidents in Honduras through mid-September 2026, with collisions, rollovers, and pedestrian strikes among the incidents.

Prosecutors have charged six people with receiving stolen funds in a phishing attack that compromised a victim's bank account and drained L586,579 (about $23,500) through 17 transfers in under an hour.

Honduras's family and child welfare agency (Senaf) and prosecutors opened an investigation after a woman accused a Senaf psychologist of sexual abuse, though Senaf's minister disputed the accuser's age and says she is over 21.

Honduras's National Police director warned that tattoo artists who provide services to gangs such as MS-13, the 18th Street Gang, and the Devil's Cartel face arrest and prison sentences if investigations prove their collaboration in illegal activities.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano said three criminal organizations have been designated terrorist groups so far and more designations are possible, as the government announces new measures to tighten control in prisons and prevent gang leaders from directing crimes from detention.