TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – On Sunday, Mayor Wilmer Manolo Wood of Brus Laguna, a region in Honduras that borders Nicaragua, was arrested on charges of collaborating with drug cartels to smuggle 90 tons of cocaine to the United States using boats and planes. Jorge Galindo, a spokesperson for the Honduran prosecutors’ office, confirmed the arrest. The mayor is accused of working with three cartels: Los Piningos, Los Yanez, and Los Amador. Wood and his lawyers have not yet commented on the allegations.
Galindo revealed that, aside from collaborating with the three cartels, Wood personally received 30 tons of cocaine and facilitated its transportation through Honduras to the United States. It is believed that Wood has been involved in drug trafficking for 15 years and began operating independently eight years ago.
The public ministry stated that Wood was implicated in assisting 15 boats originating from Colombia, which passed through Honduras en route to the United States. The arrest took place in La Ceiba, a city located in northern Honduras, as part of a series of raids and inspections conducted along the Atlantic coast.
Local authorities suspect that Mexican drug cartels, responsible for supplying drugs to the United States, transport cocaine through Central America and Mexico after it is brought from Colombia via boat or plane to the Mosquitia region and other parts of Honduras’ Atlantic coast.
Last year, former President Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited to the United States on charges related to drugs and weapons. Meanwhile, President Xiomara Castro is intensifying efforts to combat crime and has repeatedly extended emergency powers throughout the country.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Writing by Sarah Morland)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
