Report: Top cop aided drug cartel
MEXICO CITY — When Jose David Aguilar Moran took over as Honduras’ new national police chief last week, he promised to continue reforming a law enforcement agency stained by corruption and complicity with drug cartels.
But a confidential Honduran government security report says Aguilar himself helped a cartel leader pull off the delivery of nearly a ton of cocaine in 2013.
The clandestine haul of more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine was packed inside a tanker truck that, the report says, was being escorted by corrupt police officers to the home of Wilter Blanco, a drug trafficker recently convicted in Florida and now serving a 20-year sentence.
Aguilar, who at the time was serving as chief of intelligence for Honduras’ National Police, intervened after a police official safeguarding the drugs was busted by a lowerranked officer who had seized the tanker, the report says. The handcuffed officer called Aguilar, who ordered that the officer and the tanker be set free, says the report which was prepared by the Honduran Security Ministry’s Inspector General.
The U.S. street value of the cocaine involved could have topped $20 million.
The incident raises questions about Honduras’ much-touted purge of corrupt police and the reliability of the administration of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a key U.S. ally in the war on drugs.
As he swore in his new police chief, local media reported that Hernandez said Aguilar was chosen “with the utmost confidence” and would lead “a National Police that becomes a role model for the region.”
“We are in a process of transforming the National Police, with a huge investment of financial resources,” the president said.
Aguilar, 54, vowed to instruct his officers “to follow the law and make sure the law is followed,” said local reports.
On Friday, Omar Rivera, a member of the special commission that says it has purged more than 4,000 members of the National Police for reasons ranging from corruption to restructuring and voluntary retirement, said it had no information about the incident involving Aguilar Moran.
“We do not have in hand today any information that says Commissioner Aguilar Moran is a drug trafficker or collaborator of the drug cartels,” Rivera told local reporters. “We are going to conduct an exhaustive investigation.”
But an ex-member of the National Police with knowledge of the investigation confirmed officials found that top officers conspired to cover up the incident, and that the handcuffed officer was later put on leave. Three other current and former high-ranking Honduran police officials confirmed elements of the report. All four spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of violent reprisals.
In addition to the report, the Associated Press confirmed the story using other internal memos and a page from Aguilar’s personnel file summarizing his alleged participation.
Aguilar did not respond to requests for comment. In public remarks Jan. 15, he said he would work to strengthen cooperation among his nation’s police and judicial agencies and make sure that officers serving under him would act with “respect for human rights.”
The inspector general’s office began its inquiry in early 2014, just as the United States was ramping up funding for collaborative antidrug trafficking efforts in the region. The inspector general’s report blames Aguilar and other commanders for failing to discipline the officers involved and for failing to turn over the investigation to prosecutors and U.S. authorities.
Honduras has been an ally of the United States for decades. The strategically positioned Soto Cano Air Base near Honduras’ capital, Tegucigalpa, served as a center for U.S. efforts to beat back pro-communist movements in Central America in the 1980s, and continues to support regional anti-drug efforts and host a U.S. military presence of about 600 troops.
U.S. aid to Honduras has grown since 2014, when the Obama administration determined that it was in U.S. interests to improve security and strengthen governance in Central America. Since then, Congress has appropriated more than $300 million for Honduras, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service.