Troops with FUSINA, an elite Honduran security force comprised of Army soldiers and National Police agents, recently captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa, an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with Mexican transnational criminal organization Lo
Troops with FUSINA, an elite Honduran security force comprised of Army soldiers and National Police agents, recently captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa, an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas.
The suspect, also known as “Don H,” was in an upscale neighborhood nestled in mountains about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa when he was caught on October 7. Now that he’s in custody, the United States is seeking his extradition.
It was just the latest in a series of arrests of alleged drug traffickers by Honduran and U.S. security forces – seven in recent months.
A series of arrests
Just two days before Don H’s arrest, Los Tigres commandos assigned to FUSINA captured brothers Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle, 42, and Luis Alonso Valle Valle, 45, as well as $11.2 million (USD) and several firearms. The two brothers, alleged leaders of the international drug trafficking cartel Los Valles, were caught inside a newly-built hacienda in the town of Florida, in the western department of Copán.
And three days before that, Los Tigres troops captured another Valle brother, José Inocente Valle, 34, in the same department, near the Guatemalan border. They found him inside a house in the town of El Porvenir, and also detained his wife, Marlen Griselda Amaya Argueta. The troops also confiscated a gold-plated AK-47 rifle, 10 passports, a substantial amount of cash, and more than 20 handguns .
The capture of José Valle was historic because it was the first time a member of the Valle criminal family had been arrested in Honduras.
Los Valles has in recent years trafficked thousands of kilos of cocaine into Guatemala and then into the United States, according to allegations by the U.S. Treasury. That department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed the organization on its list of major international drug trafficking groups in August. It works with the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican transnational criminal organization which is one of the top drug trafficking groups in the world.
As a consequence of the series of arrests, only one Valle sibling, José Reynerio Valle, 40, remains at large. Honduran law enforcement authorities are confident they will capture him as well.
“His detention is only a matter of time,” said director of the Honduran National Police Ramón Sabillón. “The Valle band is one of the largest criminal organizations in Honduras. Their history links them with murders for hire, drug trafficking and illegal distribution of weapons.”
An elite force to fight organized crime and drug trafficking
FUSINA was created by President Juan Orlando Hernández in February 2014, one month after he was sworn into office, in an effort to aggressively confront international drug traffickers and violent organized crime groups. It’s comprised of 4,400 men and women of the Armed Forces, the National Police, the Public Ministry, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Direction of Migration and the State’s General Intelligence Direction. The group operates throughout the country, with task forces in each of the country’s 18 departments. FUSINA carries out operations every day, on land, in the air, and at sea.
In its first eight months of operation, FUSINA has had a dramatic and positive impact. Its troops have seized about 15,000 kilos of cocaine, thousands of firearms, and millions of dollars in cash; additionally, they’ve seized nearly 400 properties that allegedly belonged to criminals. For instance, they’ve seized 52 businesses and homes, including luxury haciendas, which allegedly belong to Los Valles.
Various FUSINA task forces have captured more than 1,500 criminal suspects who are wanted for a wide array of crimes, including homicide, extortion, and drug trafficking. In total, they’ve dismantled at least 41 criminal bands which engaged in extortion and 16 others which commit assassinations for hire.
FUSINA is reducing drug trafficking into Honduras
FUSINA’s efforts on land, in the air, and at sea have reduced drug trafficking into Honduras.
“Traffickers have had to find new spaces to take the drug to their intended final destination,” said Army Col. Gustavo Paz Escalante.
Cooperation between Honduran security forces and government agencies is crucial in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, said President Hernández during a press conference following the arrests of Miguel and Luis Valle.
“All institutions have understood that they must complement each other; share actions and information,” he said. “That’s the reason we have achieved so much in this ongoing battle to recover our peace.”
Some people had voiced skepticism about using the Armed Forces to improve public safety by fighting drug trafficking and organized crime, he noted, “but time has proven us right.”
International cooperation is another key part of FUSINA’s operations. FUSINA shares information with other Central American countries and the United States.
“I think there was excellent coordination work and information sharing. This allowed us, I think, to conduct a remarkably coordinated effort,” said Gen. Fredy Díaz Zelaya, chief of the Honduran Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In September, before the flurry of arrests, President Hernández lauded the efforts of security forces in a press release.
“The system is working,” he said, pledging to continue the battle against drug traffickers and organized crime. “This is only the beginning.”
Troops with FUSINA, an elite Honduran security force comprised of Army soldiers and National Police agents, recently captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa, an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas.
The suspect, also known as “Don H,” was in an upscale neighborhood nestled in mountains about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa when he was caught on October 7. Now that he’s in custody, the United States is seeking his extradition.
It was just the latest in a series of arrests of alleged drug traffickers by Honduran and U.S. security forces – seven in recent months.
A series of arrests
Just two days before Don H’s arrest, Los Tigres commandos assigned to FUSINA captured brothers Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle, 42, and Luis Alonso Valle Valle, 45, as well as $11.2 million (USD) and several firearms. The two brothers, alleged leaders of the international drug trafficking cartel Los Valles, were caught inside a newly-built hacienda in the town of Florida, in the western department of Copán.
And three days before that, Los Tigres troops captured another Valle brother, José Inocente Valle, 34, in the same department, near the Guatemalan border. They found him inside a house in the town of El Porvenir, and also detained his wife, Marlen Griselda Amaya Argueta. The troops also confiscated a gold-plated AK-47 rifle, 10 passports, a substantial amount of cash, and more than 20 handguns .
The capture of José Valle was historic because it was the first time a member of the Valle criminal family had been arrested in Honduras.
Los Valles has in recent years trafficked thousands of kilos of cocaine into Guatemala and then into the United States, according to allegations by the U.S. Treasury. That department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed the organization on its list of major international drug trafficking groups in August. It works with the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican transnational criminal organization which is one of the top drug trafficking groups in the world.
As a consequence of the series of arrests, only one Valle sibling, José Reynerio Valle, 40, remains at large. Honduran law enforcement authorities are confident they will capture him as well.
“His detention is only a matter of time,” said director of the Honduran National Police Ramón Sabillón. “The Valle band is one of the largest criminal organizations in Honduras. Their history links them with murders for hire, drug trafficking and illegal distribution of weapons.”
An elite force to fight organized crime and drug trafficking
FUSINA was created by President Juan Orlando Hernández in February 2014, one month after he was sworn into office, in an effort to aggressively confront international drug traffickers and violent organized crime groups. It’s comprised of 4,400 men and women of the Armed Forces, the National Police, the Public Ministry, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Direction of Migration and the State’s General Intelligence Direction. The group operates throughout the country, with task forces in each of the country’s 18 departments. FUSINA carries out operations every day, on land, in the air, and at sea.
In its first eight months of operation, FUSINA has had a dramatic and positive impact. Its troops have seized about 15,000 kilos of cocaine, thousands of firearms, and millions of dollars in cash; additionally, they’ve seized nearly 400 properties that allegedly belonged to criminals. For instance, they’ve seized 52 businesses and homes, including luxury haciendas, which allegedly belong to Los Valles.
Various FUSINA task forces have captured more than 1,500 criminal suspects who are wanted for a wide array of crimes, including homicide, extortion, and drug trafficking. In total, they’ve dismantled at least 41 criminal bands which engaged in extortion and 16 others which commit assassinations for hire.
FUSINA is reducing drug trafficking into Honduras
FUSINA’s efforts on land, in the air, and at sea have reduced drug trafficking into Honduras.
“Traffickers have had to find new spaces to take the drug to their intended final destination,” said Army Col. Gustavo Paz Escalante.
Cooperation between Honduran security forces and government agencies is crucial in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, said President Hernández during a press conference following the arrests of Miguel and Luis Valle.
“All institutions have understood that they must complement each other; share actions and information,” he said. “That’s the reason we have achieved so much in this ongoing battle to recover our peace.”
Some people had voiced skepticism about using the Armed Forces to improve public safety by fighting drug trafficking and organized crime, he noted, “but time has proven us right.”
International cooperation is another key part of FUSINA’s operations. FUSINA shares information with other Central American countries and the United States.
“I think there was excellent coordination work and information sharing. This allowed us, I think, to conduct a remarkably coordinated effort,” said Gen. Fredy Díaz Zelaya, chief of the Honduran Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In September, before the flurry of arrests, President Hernández lauded the efforts of security forces in a press release.
“The system is working,” he said, pledging to continue the battle against drug traffickers and organized crime. “This is only the beginning.”
Congratulations to all the members of this elite force and to Honduras for combating such slander in the country. Congratulations, Fusina. It was about time to start getting rid of that cancer that is drowning our society.