A total of three tons of cocaine were seized on Sunday (July 26) in Guatemala and Honduras in two separate operations, official sources said. The anti-drug services of Guatemala had spotted the wrecks of a plane and two small trucks set on fire in a wooded area in the department of Péten, in the north of the country, near the borders with Mexico and Belize, the prosecution said in a report. communicated.
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A cargo of just over 2.1 tonnes of cocaine was discovered nearby, half buried. According to the Guatemalan army, the plane had entered illegally early Sunday morning in the country's airspace and had been spotted by radar. A total of 48 planes were dumped in Guatemala last year on clandestine runways after allegedly being used to transport drugs, authorities said.
901 kilos of cocaine seized in Honduras
In Honduras, 901 kilos of cocaine were seized on board a fishing boat off the department of Gracias a Dios (east), during a joint operation by the anti-drug services of Honduras and Colombia. , with assistance from the United States Department of Drug Administration (DEA). The drugs, divided into 36 bundles, were concealed in caches in the ship. The three crew members, of Honduran nationality, were arrested, the Honduran army said in a statement.
On July 20, a cargo of 806 kilos of cocaine had already been seized during the interception of a plane which had landed on an illegal runway, also in the department of Gracias a Dios. The drug cartels, with the help of local accomplices, use Central America as a gateway to the American market. They also invest in it to launder the income from trafficking.
According to US authorities, 90% of the cocaine imported into the United States passes through Central America and Mexico, transported by air, by ships or even by submersibles.