Investigation and Analysis of Organized Crime

InSight Crime

Honduras

Honduras Profile

One of the poorest countries in Latin America, Honduras is now also the region's most violent and crime-ridden country. This is, in part, due to its role as a strategically important transit nation for the transnational drug trade, as well as macroeconomic shifts, endemic poverty, corruption, and political turmoil. Estimates vary, but between 140 and 300 tons of cocaine are believed to pass through the country each year. In recent years, transnational criminal groups, particularly Mexican cartels, have expanded their presence in Honduras. The 2009 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya and caused international outrage also exacerbated instability in the country. Colombian drug trafficking gangs changed their routes to Honduras just days after the coup and turned it into the principal handover point for cocaine to Mexican cartels. Read more

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Extortion Explainer 1: Evolution of Extortion in the Northern Triangle

The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are now...

Extortion Explainer 2: From a “Cora” to the Rent

Extortion has been a part of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and 18th Street Gang's...

Groups

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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.