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Six Honduran Cops Charged in Coke Conspiracy
Manhattan prosecutors charged six members of the Honduran National Police with participating in a massive cocaine trafficking conspiracy, alleging they accepted bribes to protect multi-hundred-kilogram shipments through the jungle.
The defendants, identified as Ludwig Criss Zelaya Romero, Mario Guillermo Mejia Vargas, Juan Manuel Avila Meza, Carlos Jose Zavala Velasquez, Victor Oswaldo Lopez Flores, and Jorge Alfredo Cruz Chavez, were charged in a Superseding Indictment with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related firearms offenses, according to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
The alleged scheme, which spanned from 2004 to 2014, involved multiple drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras and elsewhere, working together with the defendants to transport cocaine from Venezuela and Colombia to the United States.
Prosecutors alleged that the defendants accepted bribes from drug traffickers to provide access to information about ongoing investigations, military and law enforcement checkpoints, and planned narcotics interdictions.
The Honduran government recently declared an “emergency situation” with respect to the Pólicia National de Honduras and established a Special Commission to investigate corruption and sanction members of the National Police.
The defendants were allegedly involved in the activities of Fabio Porfirio Lobo, the son of former Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who pleaded guilty to a related drug-trafficking crime in 2016.
Bharara praised the DEA for their work in the investigation, saying, “We thank the DEA for their work in this important drug enforcement investigation.”
The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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