Investigation and Analysis of Organized Crime

InSight Crime

Honduras

Honduras Profile

Honduras, long one of the poorest countries in Latin America, is now also among the most violent and crime-ridden. The violence is carried out by local drug trafficking groups, gangs, corrupt security forces and transnational criminal organizations mainly from Mexico and Colombia.

In recent years, Honduras has become a strategic transit nation for drugs moving north to the United States. Political turmoil following the 2009 coup that ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya has exacerbated instability. Read more

News

SEE ALL

US Indictments Highlight Venezuela-Central America Drug Connections

Recent US indictments have shown in detail how Venezuela was at one point a key...

In Honduras, Coronavirus Lockdown is Enforced at Gunpoint

Militarized police forces are at the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic in...

Groups

SEE ALL

Cachiros

The Cachiros were one of Honduras' largest transport groups, with a net worth...

Groups

Cachiros

The Cachiros were one of Honduras' largest transport groups, with a net worth close to $1 billion. Made up of a family of former cattle rustlers, the organization became a...

Barrio 18

The 18th Street Gang, also known as "Barrio 18," is one of the largest youth gangs in the Western Hemisphere. Like its better-known rival, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), the Barrio 18 has cells operating from Central America to Canada, including the United States. With thousands of members across hundreds of kilometers, and interests in a number of different illicit activities, Barrio 18 is one of the more significant emerging criminal threats in the region. Still, it is questionable how far its different units are coordinated across borders, or even within the same city.

MS13

The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, is perhaps the most notorious street gang in the Western Hemisphere. While it has its origins in the poor, refugee-laden neighborhoods of 1980s Los Angeles, the gang's reach now extends from Central American nations like El Salvador and through Mexico, the United States, and Canada. They rob, extort and bully their way into neighborhoods and have gradually turned to transnational crimes such as human smuggling and drug trafficking. Their activities have helped make the Northern Triangle -- Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras -- the most violent place in the world that is not at war. In October 2012, the US Department of the Treasury labeled the group a "transnational criminal organization," the first such designation for a US street gang.