HomeNewsBriefHonduras, Nicaragua Deepen Military Cooperation Along Border
BRIEF

Honduras, Nicaragua Deepen Military Cooperation Along Border

HONDURAS / 23 APR 2015 BY LOREN RIESENFELD EN

Honduras and Nicaragua have signed a cooperation agreement for anti-narcotics operations along their shared border, underscoring increased efforts to improve security in recent years. 

On April 22, representatives from the Honduran and Nicaraguan militaries signed a security agreement in Nicaraguan capital Managua to fight drug trafficking and organized crime in the border region, reported Spanish news agency EFE

The accord came on the heels of a joint operation along the border between April 1 and April 22 that resulted in the capture of 121 people who were either alleged criminals or lacked proper migration documents, reported La Prensa. During the operation, security forces also destroyed two clandestine airstrips and seized 450 kilos of cocaine, 410 kilos of marijuana, and 71 cows. The Nicaraguan army also dismantled a criminal network dedicated to growing and smuggling marijuana. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The agreement provides further evidence that Honduran officials are investing resources in improving the country's security situation and increasing interdiction efforts. Honduras has also recently expanded security operations along its violent northern border with Guatemala, creating a joint task force that began operations in January.  

Although the Honduras-Guatemala border is more commonly associated with contraband, Honduras' border with Nicaragua is also a major contraband smuggling route -- especially when it comes to the illegal cattle trade. Last year, police reported that 22,000 heads of cattle were smuggled into Honduras over a three-month period.

SEE ALSO: Honduras News and Profiles

The fact that authorities destroyed two clandestine airstrips is also notable. In January, the Honduran military claimed that no drug flights entered the country in 2014. While the fact that security forces are still destroying clandestine airstrips along the border with Nicaragua shows this assertion should be viewed with skepticism, there are certainly reasons to believe drug flights have been reduced. The US State Department estimated that 60 percent of drug flights leaving South America landed in Honduras in 2014, down from 75 percent in 2013, a far cry from the military’s claim but a significant improvement nonetheless. 

With drug flights reduced, another challenge remains for Honduras and Nicaragua: combatting the maritime drug trade. The US State Department estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the cocaine smuggled through Honduras comes by sea, while Nicaragua's Atlantic coast is a stop-off point for traffickers transporting cocaine in go-fast boats.

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

CARIBBEAN / 8 DEC 2022

A broad state of emergency announced across Jamaica in order to rein in rising violence has met with scorn.

DISPLACEMENT / 3 MAR 2022

Without the bodies, the exact number of people executed in broad daylight at a funeral in Mexico's western state of…

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.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…