Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TEGUCIGALPA1268
2009-12-08 23:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Cable title:
TFH01: COUNTER-NARCOTICS CHIEF ASSASSINATED
how-toVZCZCXRO0873 PP RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHGR RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC DE RUEHTG #1268 3422337 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 082337Z DEC 09 FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1285 INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUMIAAA/USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/COMSOCSOUTH PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFISS/CDR JTF-BRAVO PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001268
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL HO
SUBJECT: TFH01: COUNTER-NARCOTICS CHIEF ASSASSINATED
UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001268
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL HO
SUBJECT: TFH01: COUNTER-NARCOTICS CHIEF ASSASSINATED
1. (U) Summary: Retired General Julian Aristides Gonzales
Irias, Director of the National Directorate of
Counter-Narcotics (DLCN),was shot to death in his vehicle
shortly before 07:00 local time on December 8 in Tegucigalpa.
The assailants were two pairs of armed men, each pair on a
motorcycle, who ambushed Gonzales while he was en route from
his daughter's school to pick up his security detail. The
attack appears to be drug-related, with no connection to the
current Honduran political crisis. Gonzales was well and
favorably known to numerous offices and agencies within the
Embassy. End summary.
2. (U) The attack took place shortly after Gonzales had
dropped off his daughter at school, while en route to pick up
his regular security detail. Police contacts informed
Embassy that Gonzales regularly took his daughter to school
without his security detail, following the same route every
day, contrary to force protection guidance. Before 07:00
local time, as Gonzales was passing though the Guanacaste
neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, approximately six blocks
northwest of the Embassy, two motorcycles, each with two men
on board, came alongside Gonzales' SUV and fired five shots
into the vehicle, killing Gonzales. Police sources informed
Embassy that they do not believe there was a political
motivation for the attack, but rather that it was connected
to Gonzales' anti-narcotics role. (Note: Honduras is a major
through-point for illicit narcotics trafficking and is on
track to have a homicide rate of over 60 per 100,000
population in 2009, one of the highest in the world, much of
it related to narco-trafficking and organized crime. End
note.)
3. (SBU) Gonzales had been Director of the DLCN, a police
force under the command of the Attorney General within the
Public Ministry, since 2003, and was well and favorably known
to many offices and agencies in the Embassy. At the
invitation of the Embassy, Gonzales attended the June
presentation of four high-speed interceptor boats to the
Honduran armed forces shortly before the June 28 coup d'etat.
He was seen by the Embassy as an effective partner in the
anti-narcotics effort.
LLORENS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL HO
SUBJECT: TFH01: COUNTER-NARCOTICS CHIEF ASSASSINATED
1. (U) Summary: Retired General Julian Aristides Gonzales
Irias, Director of the National Directorate of
Counter-Narcotics (DLCN),was shot to death in his vehicle
shortly before 07:00 local time on December 8 in Tegucigalpa.
The assailants were two pairs of armed men, each pair on a
motorcycle, who ambushed Gonzales while he was en route from
his daughter's school to pick up his security detail. The
attack appears to be drug-related, with no connection to the
current Honduran political crisis. Gonzales was well and
favorably known to numerous offices and agencies within the
Embassy. End summary.
2. (U) The attack took place shortly after Gonzales had
dropped off his daughter at school, while en route to pick up
his regular security detail. Police contacts informed
Embassy that Gonzales regularly took his daughter to school
without his security detail, following the same route every
day, contrary to force protection guidance. Before 07:00
local time, as Gonzales was passing though the Guanacaste
neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, approximately six blocks
northwest of the Embassy, two motorcycles, each with two men
on board, came alongside Gonzales' SUV and fired five shots
into the vehicle, killing Gonzales. Police sources informed
Embassy that they do not believe there was a political
motivation for the attack, but rather that it was connected
to Gonzales' anti-narcotics role. (Note: Honduras is a major
through-point for illicit narcotics trafficking and is on
track to have a homicide rate of over 60 per 100,000
population in 2009, one of the highest in the world, much of
it related to narco-trafficking and organized crime. End
note.)
3. (SBU) Gonzales had been Director of the DLCN, a police
force under the command of the Attorney General within the
Public Ministry, since 2003, and was well and favorably known
to many offices and agencies in the Embassy. At the
invitation of the Embassy, Gonzales attended the June
presentation of four high-speed interceptor boats to the
Honduran armed forces shortly before the June 28 coup d'etat.
He was seen by the Embassy as an effective partner in the
anti-narcotics effort.
LLORENS