Honduras: Narco-trafficker dies in military raid

By Dialogo
January 18, 2013

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – At least one narco-trafficker died and another was apprehended in the first Honduran counter-narcotics raid using U.S. radar intelligence after the countries went five months without sharing data that could be used to catch criminals, according to the Honduran Navy.
One of three Jamaican males aboard a go-fast boat carrying 350 kilograms (772 pounds) died when a Honduran Coast Guard ship collided with their vessel during the early morning hours on Jan. 16 about four kilometers (1.86 miles) off the Central American country’s northern coast.
One of the crewmembers was taken into custody but another one jumped into the water and hasn’t been seen since, Rear Adm. Rigoberto Espinal said.
Espinal said agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) didn’t have a direct role in the operation, but officials from the United States notified Honduran officials of the suspicious boat.
“This is the first successful anti-drug operation since the re-establishment of the radar signals by the United States,” Espinal said, adding that as much as five tons of narcotics may have been transited through Honduras while the radar system was offline.
Honduras and the United States started sharing information again in November after shutting down the system in August, when the Honduran Air Force shot down two suspected planes suspected of carrying narcotics.

[La Prensa (Honduras), 17/01/2013; El Nuevo Heraldo (Honduras), 17/01/2013]