US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA672

S E C R E T TEGUCIGALPA 000672 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
STATE FOR INL, L, INR, WHA, WHA/CEN AND WHA/PPC 
SOUTHCOM FOR GENERAL HILL 
JIATF-S FOR RADM SIROIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2014 
TAGS: SNAR, MOPS, PINS, PREL, MCAP, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: DRUG PLANE BURNED ON PROMINENT HONDURAN'S PROPERTY 
 
REF: PIERCE E-MAIL 03/19/04 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Francisco L. Palmieri 
for reason 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (U) On March 18, post received initial sketchy information 
involving the burned wreckage of a twin-engine aircraft in 
the area of Farallones in the Department of Colon on 
Honduras's north coast.  It does not appear that any aircraft 
actually crashed on March 18.  Upon further investigation, 
Post learned that the owner of the private property where the 
wreckage was discovered reported to the National Police on 
March 17 that an unauthorized plane had used a private 
airstrip on his property to land on March 16.  National 
Police responding to his report located the burned wreckage 
March 18.  The property owner reported that his guards had 
shot at the plane which then erupted into flames.  This 
version does not track with other information post has 
developed on this wreckage (see para. 2).  The only 
involvement of the Honduran Air Force (HAF) in this incident, 
which post has been able to confirm, is that the HAF did 
launch an aircraft to respond to an incoming air track March 
14.  The HAF reported no contact at all with this air track. 
 
2. (S/NOFORN) Post's JIATF-S TAT provided information to the 
HAF March 14 about a known drug trafficking flight with a 
1,000 kilo cocaine shipment from Colombia, which resulted in 
a fruitless air interdiction attempt.  Separately, a law 
enforcement source provided information that the aircraft 
successfully landed March 14 on the private property of 
Miguel Facusse, a prominent Honduran, who is one of the 
nation's wealthiest individuals, leading industrialist, and 
uncle of former Honduran President Carlos Flores Facusse. 
Sources informed the police that the aircraft successfully 
landed March 14 and its cargo was off-loaded onto a convoy of 
vehicles that was guarded by about 30 heavily armed men. One 
source claimed that the property's single caretaker was shot 
at and fled the scene. The aircraft was then burned on March 
14 during daylight hours near the runway.  According to a 
source, a bulldozer/front-end loader buried the wreckage on 
the evening of March 15. 
 
3. (C) Based on Miguel Facusse's March 17 report to the 
National Police (see para. 1), police interviewed several of 
his employees at the property and residents in the area.  It 
is clear that these witnesses were aware of what had happened 
but did not report it at the time to police authorities 
because they were afraid.  Facusse's property is heavily 
guarded and the prospect that individuals were able to access 
the property and, without authorization, use the airstrip is 
questionable.  In addition, Facusse's report obviously 
contradicts other information received from the law 
enforcement source about the actual date of the event and 
TAT's intelligence about the March 14 air track.  The source 
also claimed that Facusse was present on the property at the 
time of the incident.  Finally, there is absolutely no 
evidence to suggest that the HAF was involved in any way with 
the end result of this air track, except that Post finds it 
improbable that the HAF interceptor would not have been able 
to see an aircraft being burned on the ground. 
 
4. (C)  Of additional interest is that this incident marks 
the third time in the last fifteen months that drug 
traffickers have been linked to this property owned by Mr. 
Facusse.  In July 2003, a go-fast boat crashed into a sea 
wall on the same property and engaged in a firefight with 
National Police forces.  Two known drug traffickers were 
arrested in this incident and 420 kilos of cocaine were 
recovered.  Earlier in the year, another air track terminated 
at the same property and appeared to have used the same 
airstrip. 
PALMER