HomeNewsBriefNicaragua Captures Suspected Traffickers in Autonomous Zone
BRIEF

Nicaragua Captures Suspected Traffickers in Autonomous Zone

NICARAGUA / 9 JAN 2012 BY EDWARD FOX EN

Seven alleged members of Colombian and Honduran drug gangs were detained in a naval operation in a semi-autonomous region on Nicaragua's northeast coast.

According to El Nuevo Diario, the operation, which also saw the seizure of weapons and marijuana, was carried out near the coastal town of Sandy Bay, north of the departmental capital of Bilwi.

This latest move comes as part of a crackdown on crime in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) which has caused problems with some local indigenous leaders, who accuse the authorities of imposing draconian control measures.

InSight Crime Analysis

The use of indigenous areas in Nicaragua brings trafficking organizations additional cover from the national authorities, due to the sometimes fraught nature of the relationship between indigenous leaders and the government.

Nicaragua is a key transit point for drug traffickers in the region, although it does not have the same criminal infrastructure as some of its neighbors to both the north and south. Nicaraguan authorities, particularly the navy, have become increasingly important players in the US's regional fight against drug trafficking, and have been the recipients of $36.1 million in military aid from the US since 2007.

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.

Tags

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

COCAINE / 5 NOV 2021

US prosecutors have charged an alleged MS13 leader in Honduras and another man thought to be one of his main…

COLOMBIA / 29 MAR 2022

A record cocaine seizure off the coast of Colombia’s San Andres is the latest in a string of million-dollar drug…

CONTRABAND / 18 MAY 2022

Cattle from Mexico and the Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua help feed the domestic beef markets of…

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…