Honduras "invaded by drug traffickers" - 100 tons of cocaine shipped yearly to U.S., "where customers are"

Mexico's pressure against drug cartels makes Honduras the new warehouse for U.S. bound cocaine

Tegucigalpa - In this capital city of Honduras, the government says it's being overrun by drug traffickers - many of them fleeing Mexico's armed forces, which are hunting down and capturing or killing cartel bosses with increasing frequency.

The Honduran minister of defense, Marlon Pascua, said Wednesday that over 100 tons of cocaine are shipped annually from its territory to the United States, "where the consumers are."

"Given its central location, Honduras has been invaded by drug dealers and itself converted into a trafficking victim," added Pascua in an interview. He said that criminal groups have sought refuge in Honduras as a result of aggressive military operations against them in Colombia to the south, and Mexico to the north. "The invasion of Honduras by the drug traffickers has been provoked by the open war which Colombia is waging against them, and by the increasing pressure which is being applied in Mexico."

Pascua said that he regretted The Washington Post's recent characterization of Honduras as "the crime capital of the world." "We don't deserve such a name," he insisted. Pascua's comments came on the heels of a recent admission by president Porfirio Lobo Sosa that the country's police and security forces are infiltrated by drug traffickers and organized crime elements. Sosa has vowed to clean their ranks - sure to be a long, slow process.

Honduras has asked the United States for help with modern military equipment suitable for taking on drug traffickers, such as helicopters and surveillance systems, much like the U.S. has given Mexico in recent years under the Mérida Initiative. Some American law enforcement authorities think that the defense minister's estimate of 100 tons a year is but a fraction of the cocaine actually passing north every year, virtually all of it destined for the U.S.

Note: The deteriorating situation in Honduras easily explains why Quintana Roo state, on Mexico's Caribbean coast, has become increasingly dangerous in recent months. Drugs move north from Honduras to Belize (by sea, or on land through Guatemala), and then due north into Q.R. state, which is under the thumb of Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel. Riviera Maya resorts like Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Isla de Mujeres have experienced unprecedented levels of violence in 2011 for exactly this reason. Narco executions are now regular events in those areas, as MGRR frequently reports.

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