HomeNewsBriefHonduras Approves Drug Plane Shoot-Down Law, Bolivia Set to Follow
BRIEF

Honduras Approves Drug Plane Shoot-Down Law, Bolivia Set to Follow

BOLIVIA / 20 JAN 2014 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Honduras' congress has approved a drug plane shoot-down policy aimed at attacking the cocaine air bridge into the country, a policy Bolivia seems set to emulate.

The "Law of Aerial Exclusion" authorizes the Air Force to shoot down suspected drug planes flying through the country's airspace at the orders of the defense secretary, legislator Marvin Ponce told EFE. The law also establishes an "exclusive aerial zone" in certain Caribbean provinces of Honduras that are common entry points for drug consignments and limits night flights throughout the country, reported El Heraldo.

SEE ALSO: Honduras News and Profiles

Ponce -- the only legislator to vote against the law -- expressed concern that it violated an international accord prohibiting the shooting down of civilian airplanes.

In Bolivia, similar shoot-down legislation titled the "Law of Security and Defense of the Bolivian Airspace" has been passed through the lower Chamber of Representatives and awaits approval by the Senate, reported La Razon. Bolivian President Evo Morales has also expressed plans to acquire radar technology, which the country currently lacks, reported El Deber.

InSight Crime Analysis

Honduras and Bolivia are both major air bridges in the region's drug route, with Bolivia a common stopover for Peruvian cocaine heading to Brazil, while the US State Department estimates up to 87 percent of cocaine flights heading north from South America pass through Honduras.

In Honduras, the shoot-down policy is just one of several recent measures taken by Honduras' outgoing administration that may provide incoming president Juan Orlando Hernandez with improved crime-fighting tools. In December, President Porfirio Lobo removed controversial national police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla and announced the $30 million acquisition of radar from Israel. 

Countries like Peru have previously witnessed considerable success with shoot-down policies -- under President Alberto Fujimori, this strategy pushed Colombian traffickers to move coca production to their home country. However, they are also politically risky, with Peru's policy suspended after US missionaries were accidentally shot down in 2001.

A key question is how Honduras will implement the strategy. Both the United States and Colombia are important strategic partners and Honduras will want to avoid blunders that could lead to a suspension of aid, as happened with the shooting down of two civilian planes in 2012.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 15 JUL 2022

The death of one of the last-remaining leaders of the ex-FARC mafia may signal the disintegration of the FARC dissidents…

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.

EL SALVADOR / 10 JAN 2023

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

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…