DEA under inquiry for shooting deaths during Honduran drug patrol

[xchrom]

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/24/inenglish/1337866351_754993.html



The US Drug Enforcement Administration has come under fire in the Central American nation of Honduras where agents, actively participating with local police officers in rural patrols, formed part of a team that was involved in an attack on a small ferry boat that left four people dead and several wounded.

The pre-dawn raid on May 11 in the Ahuas sector in the Gracias a Díos department is under investigation by Honduran authorities. Wounded survivors said they were traveling on the Patuca River when helicopters appeared at around 3am and began shooting at them without any provocation.

The DEA has said that its agents were on board the helicopters chasing a ferry boat full of traffickers but did not actually fire their guns. Rather, it was the Honduran police who began shooting after being shot at first from the ferry boat, the DEA has stated.

The US government is cooperating with Honduran authorities in the ongoing investigation, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Tuesday.

[sarcasmo]

1. The World Police, this country has it's claws in to many other countries. It would be nice

if we took care of our own bullshit.

[kenny blankenship]

6. too many countries to keep track of

I'm sure they've lost count at 1600, if they ever were paying attention in the first place. There's probably an intern who comes in twice a week, who is supposed to keep a folder on that.
War: set on Full Auto.

[pipoman]

2. OFFS

Why can't Washington, especially our President, see that this war on drugs needs to end. Imagine how many could receive chemical dependency treatment or mental health services if we eliminated the budgets of these assholes (DEA)...It ain't working dumbasses..keep doing the same shit expecting different results..I really think elected Dems are in bed with those profiting from this international terrorism..

[sorefeet]

3. The DEA

are unconstitutional. They are organized crime and are the main reason for the drug woes of the world. Lobbyist, corrupt politicians, prison industry, pharmaceuticals inc., religous zealots, and lots of ignorance support this cash cow of war on drugs.
Or is this American capitalism. Invent a problem, warehouse humans and call it a needed employment job creator. Some people have no shame.

[Octafish]

4. Elephants. People. What's the difference?

...to the privileged hunter.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Honduras: Miskito villagers demands answers after deadly raids

Honduras: Miskito villagers demands answers after deadly raids
Submitted by WW4 Report on Sun, 05/27/2012 - 23:02.

Indigenous Miskito residents of Ahuas village on the remote Caribbean coast of Honduras are demanding justice in the wake of a deadly raid by Honduran National Police and DEA agents May 11—with details still emerging on the scope of the violence. Villagers report that machine-gunned fire from two helicopters lasted 15 minutes near the man village pier, adding to initial accounts of four killed in a combined air and ground assault on a canoa or pipante (dugout canoe) on the Río Patuca. As residents cowered in their homes, the two choppers—marked with the US flag, villagers say—next landed and disgorged some 50 heavily armed and uniformed men, who then proceeded to break down the doors of local homes. Residents were menaced at gunpoint and threatened with death to demand information about one "El Renco," as their modest homes were ransacked. Residents say English-speaking "gringos"—presumably, DEA agents—took part in the raids and rough interrogations, which last up to two hours.

One youth was marched down to the riverfront at gunpoint in plastic handcuffs, ostensibly to identify a drug drop-off point—and was then abandoned there, still handcuffed. A neighbor with a machete freed him, and villagers kept the cuffs as evidence of the abuse. Another villager's boat and gasoline was commandeered to explore along the river—along with nephew to serve as a guide. One of the "gringos" apparently had a laptop, and input the names of interrogated residents, who were made to produce their ID cards. Reports now say that one of the buildings burned down in the subsequent protest by outraged villagers was that of the local trafficker, who they blamed for drawing the heat.

The DEA insists that none of its agents were in the village. The US embassy in Tegucigalpa referred reports' questions to Honduran authorities. The State Department said that the helicopters used in the operation were piloted by Guatemalan soldiers and contract pilots of unidentified nationality who are temporarily deployed in Honduras. The Pentagon's Southern Command said there were no US military troops involved. The Honduran Security Ministry said it had no information about the raid reported by residents.

An investigation by the Honduran Joint Military Task Force-Paz Garcia based in nearby Puerto Lempira appeared to only acknowledge the raid on the boat, concluding that the agents fired on the civilians by mistake, killing four and wounding four. “It’s terribly sad,” Col. Servio Arita told the New York Times. “It was an error.”

More:
http://ww4report.com/node/11117

[xchrom]

7. +1

[malaise]

8. I read a report on this last night

Frightening