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Honduras

Honduras, long one of the poorest countries in Latin America, is now also among the most violent and crime-ridden. The violence is carried out by local drug trafficking groups, gangs, corrupt security forces and transnational criminal organizations mainly from Mexico and Colombia.

Latest News

Honduras Makes Few Advances Against Crime During 6-Month State of Exception

NEWS / 5 JUN 2023

After six months, the state of exception in Honduras has failed to significantly reduce gang violence and extortion.

Coca May Have Permanently Taken Root in Central America

NEWS / 15 MAR 2023

Coca cultivation remains concentrated in the Andes, but escalating seizures suggest it could eventually be successful elsewhere.

InSight Crime’s Cocaine Seizure Round-Up 2022

NEWS / 8 MAR 2023

InSight Crime reviews Latin America and the Caribbean's cocaine seizure date from 2022 to find out what it reveals about regional trafficking.

Honduras Profile

Criminal Actors

Armed Groups

Honduras’ major drug trafficking groups – like the Cachiros and the Valles – have largely been dismantled with the arrest and extradition of top leaders, but vestiges of these clans continue to operate. Political power brokers also have ties to drug smuggling and have even run trafficking operations themselves. The MS13 and Barrio 18 street gangs control urban neighborhoods in the country’s two major cities – Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula – and rural towns close to the border with El Salvador.

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Investigations

News

COCAINE / 7 MAR 2023

The US State Department's annual narcotics report sees coca cultivation spreading, while Colombia remains the top cocaine supplier to the US.

ARGENTINA / 8 FEB 2023

InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.

BARRIO 18 / 17 JAN 2023

To Desafio, the Barrio 18 gang in Honduras was everything. It provided a family, a sense of belonging. Until his life grew increasingly violent.

EL SALVADOR / 10 JAN 2023

Extortion in Latin America continues to bring in fortunes for criminal gangs. So how do they do it?…

BOLIVIA / 29 DEC 2022

The US is losing allies in Latin America just as production of cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs is going through the roof.

BARRIO 18 / 29 NOV 2022

Honduras declared a state of exception as extortion cases rise, suspending constitutional rights in cities and deploying thousands of troops.

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