An attack by gang members against the home of a spokesman for the National Interagency Security Force (FUSINA) may have been in retaliation for the squad’s successful anti-crime efforts.
An attack by gang members against the home of a spokesman for the National Interagency Security Force (FUSINA) may have been in retaliation for the squad’s successful anti-crime efforts.
It likely happened “because of the operations conducted by the military and special forces,” said Armando Rodríguez Luna, a security analyst at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Fusina is an elite team composed of Army soldiers and Honduran National Police agents.
At about 10 p.m. on September 27, at least 20 armed men streamed into a Tegucigalpa neighborhood where the FUSINA spokesman, Lt. Jose Antonio Coello, lived with his family. The men pretended to be police, cordoned off the area surrounding his house, and knocked on his door, claiming to have a warrant.
When no one opened the door, several of the men opened fire – some using high-powered rifles. At least 20 bullets struck the house. The attackers left before police arrived; fortunately, Coello and his family members weren’t injured.
On September 30, police captured six people, including one woman, who are suspected of participating in the attack on Coello’s home. They conducted a series of raids in several Tegucigalpa neighborhoods, during which they arrested four suspects in possession of a submachine gun and other powerful weapons. The suspects were charged with firearms offenses and conspiracy.
FUSINA confronts criminal organizations
The assault may have been a response to FUSINA’s successful operations against street gangs like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Barrio 18 (M-18), and drug trafficking groups like Los Cachiros and the Valle brothers.
Since President Juan Orlando Hernández announced the organization’s formation in February, FUSINA has aggressively confronted gangs and international drug traffickers. Its agents have captured more than 1,800 criminal suspects, including individuals wanted for kidnapping, extortion, homicide and other offenses; it has also dismantled at least 41 criminal extortion gangs, some of which engaged in kidnapping for ransom. As of September 26 – the day before gunmen attacked Coello’s home – FUSINA had seized 13 tons of cocaine. That represents a huge increase from 2013, when Honduran security forces seized 1.7 tons during the entire year.
Attack does not slow down FUSINA
The assault on Coello’s home has not deterred FUSINA from going after alleged drug traffickers and gang members.
For example, on October 3, its forces captured brothers Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle, 42, and Luis Alonso Valle Valle, 45; they also seized $11.2 million (USD) and several firearms. FUSINA troops captured the brothers, who are the alleged leaders of the international drug trafficking cartel Los Valles, inside a newly-built hacienda in the town of Florida, in the western department of Copán.
“The arrests of the Valle brothers has been very important in the sense that it was the main criminal group operating drug trafficking in Honduras and on the border with Guatemala,” said Rodríguez Luna.
Days later, they also captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa in an upscale neighborhood nestled in mountains about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa. Fernández, who is also known as “Don H,” is an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with the Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas. The United States has charged him with drug trafficking, and is seeking his extradition.
An attack by gang members against the home of a spokesman for the National Interagency Security Force (FUSINA) may have been in retaliation for the squad’s successful anti-crime efforts.
It likely happened “because of the operations conducted by the military and special forces,” said Armando Rodríguez Luna, a security analyst at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Fusina is an elite team composed of Army soldiers and Honduran National Police agents.
At about 10 p.m. on September 27, at least 20 armed men streamed into a Tegucigalpa neighborhood where the FUSINA spokesman, Lt. Jose Antonio Coello, lived with his family. The men pretended to be police, cordoned off the area surrounding his house, and knocked on his door, claiming to have a warrant.
When no one opened the door, several of the men opened fire – some using high-powered rifles. At least 20 bullets struck the house. The attackers left before police arrived; fortunately, Coello and his family members weren’t injured.
On September 30, police captured six people, including one woman, who are suspected of participating in the attack on Coello’s home. They conducted a series of raids in several Tegucigalpa neighborhoods, during which they arrested four suspects in possession of a submachine gun and other powerful weapons. The suspects were charged with firearms offenses and conspiracy.
FUSINA confronts criminal organizations
The assault may have been a response to FUSINA’s successful operations against street gangs like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Barrio 18 (M-18), and drug trafficking groups like Los Cachiros and the Valle brothers.
Since President Juan Orlando Hernández announced the organization’s formation in February, FUSINA has aggressively confronted gangs and international drug traffickers. Its agents have captured more than 1,800 criminal suspects, including individuals wanted for kidnapping, extortion, homicide and other offenses; it has also dismantled at least 41 criminal extortion gangs, some of which engaged in kidnapping for ransom. As of September 26 – the day before gunmen attacked Coello’s home – FUSINA had seized 13 tons of cocaine. That represents a huge increase from 2013, when Honduran security forces seized 1.7 tons during the entire year.
Attack does not slow down FUSINA
The assault on Coello’s home has not deterred FUSINA from going after alleged drug traffickers and gang members.
For example, on October 3, its forces captured brothers Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle, 42, and Luis Alonso Valle Valle, 45; they also seized $11.2 million (USD) and several firearms. FUSINA troops captured the brothers, who are the alleged leaders of the international drug trafficking cartel Los Valles, inside a newly-built hacienda in the town of Florida, in the western department of Copán.
“The arrests of the Valle brothers has been very important in the sense that it was the main criminal group operating drug trafficking in Honduras and on the border with Guatemala,” said Rodríguez Luna.
Days later, they also captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa in an upscale neighborhood nestled in mountains about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa. Fernández, who is also known as “Don H,” is an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with the Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas. The United States has charged him with drug trafficking, and is seeking his extradition.
WHEN WILL IT BE THAT IN VENEZUELA WE CAN BAN THOSE WHO ARE LOCKED UP FROM HAVING CELL PHONES. THEY WOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OFFICIAL CELL PHONES OR TELEPHONES, AUTHORIZED FOR THIS OBJECTIVE. THAT WOULD REDUCE CRIMINAL ACTIONS ON THE STREETS OF VENEZUELA.- Let the Zs do their work. Don’t trap them