HONDURAS SEIZES 1,460 MORE KILOS OF COCAINE;

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001355 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/LP AND WHA/CEN SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV KCRM KJUS SOCI PHUM HO SUBJECT: HONDURAS SEIZES 1,460 MORE KILOS OF COCAINE; 2004 TOTAL UP TO APPROXIMATELY 3,694 KILOS REF: TEGUCIGALPA 751 ¶1. (SBU) With DEA assistance, on June 9, 2004, Honduran authorities seized approximately 1,460 kilos of cocaine and arrested four suspects near Puerto Cortes on Honduras' Caribbean coast. The cocaine which originated in Colombia was seized at a property in a zone known as La Laguna de Alegria Wednesday afternoon after DEA agents alerted Honduran authorities to the movement June 6. ¶2. (U) The following suspects were arrested by Honduran authorities: Faustino Ramos Colon (57); Francisco Rivera Guzman (44) and Melvin Francisco Amaya (22). Ramos Colon purportedly owned the property where the shipment was found. Later in the day, authorities apprehended Jorge Rodriguez Lozano (36),after a chase from his property involving a helicopter and land vehicles, which reportedly involved exchange of gunfire. Rodriquez Lozano, the proprietor of the George de Omoa hotel in the area, allegedly commissioned the shipment and contracted the three other men to guard it. ¶3. (SBU) This seizure, combined with past seizures this year (reftel),brings the total amount of cocaine seized in Honduras in 2004 to approximately 3,694 kilos. An INL-funded unit carried out this seizure without any assistance from any other GOH police unit. PALMER