US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA2883

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002883 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP, WHA/PPC, AND WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, KCRM, KJUS, PGOV, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN POLICE SEIZE 636 KILOS OF COCAINE AND 
ARREST PARLACEN STAFF MEMBER FOR DEALING COCAINE 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 1497 
 
1. Summary: On December 4, Honduran authorities seized 
approximately 636 kilos of cocaine from a truck in San Pedro 
Sula.  The seizure of the drugs was the result of 
well-executed police work, acting upon a tip that a large 
amount of drugs would soon be moving through the country. 
The drugs were discovered in a concealed compartment in the 
back of a truck.  This brings the total amount of cocaine 
seized this year in Honduras to approximately 5,700 kilos. 
Also, later that same day, Jorge Alberto Caceres, (a PARLACEN 
staff member) was arrested for distributing and selling 
cocaine in the parliament's offices. End Summary. 
 
2. On December 4, Honduran authorities seized approximately 
636 kilos of cocaine from a truck in San Pedro Sula.  Police 
initially stopped the vehicle because his windows were 
completely tinted (Note:  It is technically illegal in 
Honduras to have one's windows 100 percent tinted.  End 
note).  After approaching the vehicle, the police noticed 
that the "very nervous" driver possessed two cellular phones, 
a radio, and various sets of keys.  The driver, who claimed 
to be from Honduras, then presented "suspicious" 
identification, and when police asked him some very basic 
questions about Honduras, he was unable to answer.  The 
police then performed a complete search of the vehicle 
leading to the discovery of the concealed compartment. 
 
3. According to the Vice Minister of Security, Armando 
Calidonio, the seizure was the product of an operation led by 
the National Police, who acted upon general information they 
had received that a rather large shipment of drugs would soon 
transit the country.  It appears that the 636 kilos were only 
a part of the original shipment of approximately 1,200 kilos. 
 According to the driver, the remainder had been placed in 
another identical vehicle.  It is suspected that the other 
half of the shipment has already left the country. 
 
4. In an unrelated incident later that same day, police 
arrested Jorge Alberto Caceres, a staff member of the Central 
American Parliament (PARLACEN), for distributing and selling 
cocaine in the parliament's offices in Tegucigalpa.  Hours 
before Caceres' arrest, four other men were arrested upon 
leaving PARLACEN, all of whom were found to be in possession 
of cocaine, presumably for the purpose of selling it. 
 
5. The sting operation at PARLACEN was part of a month-long 
investigation, in which government officials claim to have 
videotaped Caceres selling cocaine on various occasions.  A 
search of Caceres' office came up empty, but authorities 
presume that the drugs are hidden somewhere else in the 
PARLACEN complex.  (Note: According to press reports, the 
director of PARLACEN only gave authorities permission to 
search Caceres' office. End Note).  Caceres is the second 
Honduran at PARLACEN this year to be arrested on drug-related 
charges.  Earlier this year, Cesar Diaz was arrested in 
Nicaragua when police found seven kilos of heroin in his 
vehicle (reftel).  He was later convicted of trafficking and 
possession of heroin. 
 
6. These latest seizures bring the total amount of cocaine 
seized this year in Honduras to approximately 5,700 kilos. 
This is significantly more than has been seized in the last 
seven years combined. 
Pierce