Authorities agreed to strengthen information exchange and joint river operations along their shared border in an effort to combat organized crime. Authorities from Guatemala and Mexico recently met to increase the amount of information they exchange regarding security matters along their shared border and to strengthen joint river operations to [ … ]
Transnational Threats
Task Force Trident Intensifies Fight Against Drug Trafficking in El Salvador
The Salvadoran Navy's Task Force Trident has seized over 2,000 kilograms of cocaine coming from South America so far this year. The Salvadoran Navy's Task Force Trident is dismantling narco-trafficking organizations operating in the turbulent waters of the Pacific Ocean, thanks to the intensive training of its members and the [ … ]
Guatemala Upgrades Defense Plan against Criminality
Brigadier General Alfredo Díaz Waight, the Inspector General of the Guatemalan Army, discusses his country's security efforts during the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC 2016) that took place between April 6th and 8th in San José, Costa Rica. According to a recent survey conducted for the Prensa Libre publication by [ … ]
Armed Forces of El Salvador Help Prevent Gang Leaders from Directing Crime from Prison
The Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) are working with the National Civil Police (PNC) and the Bureau of Prisons (DGCP) to provide security at seven of the country's 21 prisons, to prevent gang leaders from ordering crimes that are committed outside of correctional facilities. The Armed Forces of El [ … ]
Costa Rica: Countries Must Team Up to Fight Organized Crime
Costa Rican Security Minister Gustavo Mata discusses the importance of international cooperation in the battle against drug trafficking and other criminal activity. Felony homicide rates in Costa Rica are relatively low, youth gangs do not pose a serious social or criminal problem, and Costa Rican security agencies are based on [ … ]
Honduran Troops and Police Join Forces to Protect Civilians from M-18 and MS-13
About 100 Honduran Troops and police officers deployed quickly to secure an area after residents received threats by the Barrio 18 gang. About 100 members of the Honduran Armed Forces and National Police (PNH) provided security to civilians so they could return to their homes in a district in southern [ … ]
Costa Rica’s Coast Guard and SOUTHCOM Strengthen Security Ties
U.S. SOUTHCOM and Costa Rica are working together to combat the trafficking of narcotics and weapons, among other crimes. Costa Rica's National Coast Guard Service (SNG) and U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) are strengthening their joint efforts in the fight against drug trafficking, with the United States financing and installing new [ … ]
Costa Rican Official Seeks to Strengthen Military-Police Ties in Drug Trafficking Fight
Public Force Commissioner Juan José Andrade said regional Military and police forces should strengthen a common strategy against drug trafficking. Costa Rica's Public Force director, Commissioner Juan José Andrade Morales, said during an interview with Diálogo that Central American Militaries and police forces should increase ways in which they work [ … ]
Panama Intercepts Vessel Packed with Cocaine in Joint Operation with United States
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrews detected a vessel carrying more than 1,200 pounds of cocaine, and Panamanian authorities intercepted the vessel, recovered the drugs and arrested two suspected drug smugglers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircrews detected a vessel [ … ]
Operation Avalanche Hits MS-13 in Honduras
Honduran security forces captured 15 alleged members or associates of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as part of Operation Avalanche, a mission to dismantle violent street gangs. Honduran security forces captured 15 alleged members or associates of the violent gang known as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) on February 23rd as part of the [ … ]
United States Freezes Assets of Alleged MS-13 Gang Leaders
The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposes economic sanctions on Roberto Orellana and Dany Balmore Romero García, two alleged leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha. The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed economic sanctions on two suspected leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a transnational criminal gang and a threat to [ … ]
Dominican Republic and the United States Bolster Cooperation against Organized Crime
The two countries are working in close collaboration to fight drug trafficking and other transnational crimes. The Dominican Republic and the United States are working in close collaboration to strengthen the countries' amicable relationship and focus on threats posed by transnational organized crime, such as terrorism and the trafficking of [ … ]