Honduras seeks to pacify prisons and confiscates weapons, drugs and phones from inmates

The Public Order Military Police (PMOP) of Honduras reported this Monday that it seized firearms when starting operations to try to pacify the prisons, after the killing of 46 inmates the previous week.

The commander of the PMOPcolonel Fernando Munozpresented to the press a rifle and five revolvers with ammunition, two fragmentation grenades and mobile communication devices, in the first seizure in the National Penitentiary (PN) of men, in Tamara25 km north of the capital.

LOOK HERE: The Pope recalls the confrontation in a women’s prison in Honduras, where 46 inmates died

The confiscation “corresponds to one of the modules where the gang is installed [Barrio] 18 of the entire Támara prison, that is, 5%” from the PN, said the officer at a press conference.

The Public Order Military Police (PMOP) displays weapons, ammunition, drugs and mobile phones seized during an operation at the “Francisco Morazán” National Penitentiary in Tamara, on June 26, 2023. (Photo by Orlando SIERRA / AFP) (ORLANDO MOUNTAIN RANGE/)

The operation was ordered by the president Xiomara Castroafter last Tuesday in the women’s prison, located in the same area of ​​Támara, inmates from the Barrio 18 gang left their module and broke into the one where the rivals of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). They attacked them with shots and set fire to the center and the balance was 46 deaths.

Castro ordered on Wednesday that the PMOP take the “control of the 21 prisons in the country” as of next July 1, but Moñoz said that he brought the operations forward by surprise.

After entering the module of the 18 “We are going to enter the module where the MS is, which is also of maximum [seguridad]Munoz added.

Inmates during an operation at the “Francisco Morazán” National Penitentiary in Tamara, 25 km north of Tegucigalpa, on June 26, 2023. (Photo by Handout / Honduran Armed Forces / AFP) (ARMY FORCES OF HONDURAS /)

“flying do not enter” weapons to prisons and “there’s only one way to get in”, he added, alluding to the fact that gang members have bribed prison guards to enter them. But “Here the corruption in penal centers endshe promised.

MORE INFORMATION: Automatic weapons and fire: how was the horrendous massacre of 46 prisoners in a women’s prison in Honduras

Also, members of the PMOP and the National Police deployed in the city of Choloma180 km north of the capital, where on Saturday, a shooting at a pool hall left 13 dead.

The Minister of Security, Gustavo Sanchezheaded the call “padlock operation”, of searches and checkpoints in Choloma, where a curfew entered on Sunday from 9:00 p.m. local (03:00 GMT) to 4:00 a.m. (10:00 GMT).

A suspect of participating in the multiple crime in Choloma was arrested, Sánchez said.

Source: Elcomercio