HONDURAS SEIZES 700 MORE KILOS OF COCAINE; 2004

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000751 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/LP AND WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2014 TAGS: SNAR PGOV KCRM KJUS SOCI HO SUBJECT: HONDURAS SEIZES 700 MORE KILOS OF COCAINE; 2004 TOTAL IS UP TO APPROXIMATELY 2,234 KILOS REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 672 ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 665 ¶C. TEGUCIGALPA 388 ¶D. TEGUCIGALPA 265 Classified By: Political Counselor Francisco Palmieri; Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) On March 30, Honduran authorities confiscated approximately 700 kilos of cocaine and arrested six individuals in the vicinity of Santa Cruz de Yojoa, near Puerto Cortes on Honduras' Caribbean coast. Police arrived in the area as the traffickers were in the process of preparing a false compartment in a Volvo van to transport the cocaine overland. Apart from the some 125 kilos discovered in the van, a search of the property yielded another approximately 575 kilos. ¶2. (C) Police were alerted to the situation through a confidential informant. A high ranking official within the SIPDIS Ministry of Public Security speculated the cocaine may have come from the plane discovered March 18 burned and buried on the property of Miguel Facusse, a prominent Honduran businessman (ref A). ¶3. (U) The names of the detained are: Darwin Ruben Diaz, Honduran, (25); Dennis Pineda Oriana, Honduran, (33); Pedro Guevara, Honduran (24); Sandy Suazo, Honduran, (24); Ruiz Rodriguez, Guatemalan, (34); and Pedro Ellias Sanchez, Guatemalan, (33). The property is owned by Emilio Gama Liano Mejia and is rented to Darwin Ruben Diaz. ¶4. (U) This seizure, combined with previous seizures (refs B-D) brings the total amount of cocaine seized in Honduras in 2004 to approximately 2,234 kilos. PALMER