NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Six members of the Honduran National Police were indicted yesterday on U.S. charges they participated in drug trafficking activities and conspired with a son of former Honduras President Porfirio Lobo to import cocaine into the United States.
The indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, said the officers agreed to take bribes to help two informants posing as drug traffickers transport a multi-ton load of cocaine through Honduras so it could be sent to the United States.
The two informants, who worked on behalf of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, were introduced in 2014 to the six officers by Fabio Lobo, a son of the former Honduran president, the indictment said.
Lobo, who prosecutors said agreed to provide the informants with security and logistical support in the purported drug deal, was arrested in 2015 in Haiti and pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
The case comes amid efforts in Honduras to clean up the country’s 12,000-strong police force, which has long been accused of working with criminal gangs in the poor Central American country.
Omar Rivera, a member of a special Honduran commission with authority to investigate corruption and dismiss or suspend members of the national police, welcomed the indictments.
