Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced on Sunday security measures including raids, checkpoints and curfews in the north of the country to quell a wave of drug trafficking-linked violence following the massacre of 11 people in a pool hall by gunmen. Armed men burst into the pool hall in the city of Choloma in Cortes province late Saturday night and began shooting people point blank, police said. Ten men and one woman were killed.
The massacre followed the killing of three people Thursday in a bakery in the city of San Pedro Sula. Among the victims was Ericka Julissa Bandy García, wife of an alleged associate of former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is imprisoned in the U.S. awaiting trial for drug trafficking-related charges. In central Honduras, 46 inmates were killed Tuesday by Barrio 18 gang members in a women’s prison in Tamara, north of Tegucigalpa.
“SPS (San Pedro Sula) and Choloma: I have taken measures to give you security in the face of the brutal and ruthless terrorist attack you face by hired thugs trained and directed by the drug lords who operate with impunity in the Sula valley drug corridor,” the president said.
The security measures announced by Castro include “raids, captures and checkpoints 24 hours a day,” along with curfews for Choloma and San Pedro Sula. The curfew in Choloma will run from 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. The curfew in San Pedro Sula will begin on July 4. National Police spokesman Edgardo Barahona confirmed the attack in the pool hall. The brutal slaughter of the female prisoners led Castro to announce measures to take control of the prisons and stop the entry of weapons and drugs into the lockups.
