Crime in Honduras

  has long been a problem. Crime is orchestrated mainly by gangs, including the two most powerful in the country, Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, with 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people. The international average intentional homicide rate, by comparison, is 6.2 per 100,000 people, as per the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).

 

Illegal drug trade

 Honduras is considered a major drug route to the US. Smuggling is said to have increased after the US suspended anti-drug support following the 2009 Honduran coup d'état. Weak domestic law enforcement institutions, combined with Honduras's long coastline and relatively sparse population distribution, make Honduras a popular point of entry for drug routes travelling through Central America.

Jaime Rosenthal

 Jaime Rosenthal is one of the most powerful political and economic elites in Honduras. His family owns Banco Continental, the eighth largest bank in Honduras, which on October 7, 2015, had its assets frozen by the United States under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act on charges that they laundered money for drug traffickers. Rosenthal has refuted these charges, claiming, “we are sure that we will prevail in the trial because the accusations are false." The Rosenthals have an extensive fortune worth $690 million which they have amassed through their management of Grupo Continental, a massive conglomerate of businesses which includes the Banco Continental, a meat packing plant, and an alligator skin export company, among others.

  Specifically, the Rosenthal family has been accused by the United States for dealing with Cachiros, one of the largest drug transport clans in Central America. The Cachiros group was run by the Rivera Maradiaga family who went on the run after being specifically targeted by the United States Department of the Treasury.and in early 2015, turned their top members in to US authorities.Jaime Rosenthal, at 79 years old is currently under house arrest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras awaiting trial in the United States.