Honduran gang member missing after police arrest suggests pattern of forced disappearances

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Honduran gang member missing after police arrest suggests pattern of forced disappearances
By Associated Press,
Published: March 14 | Updated: Sunday, March 17, 3:37 PM

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The operation was quick and under the cover of night. Armed, masked men arrived in late-model SUVs, getting through the gate into the small neighborhood of humble homes. Without firing a shot, witnesses said, they took Kevin Samraid Carranza Padilla, 28, known in the gang world as “Teiker,” and his girlfriend, Cindy Yadira Garcia, 19.

The next morning, Jan. 10, Honduras’ major newspaper, El Heraldo, reported that police had captured Carranza, a leader of the 18th Street gang suspected in the shooting death of a police commander months earlier. It also published a photo of a shirtless, tattooed young man lying on the ground, his hands behind his back, his face partially wrapped in blue duct tape, the roll still attached. Carranza’s mother, Blanca Alvarado, recognized him from his tattoos.

The photo was distributed to media by a police prosecutor, according to three sources who didn’t want to be named for security reasons. Soon after, agents at the national criminal investigations office acknowledged that there was a detention order for Carranza, and he had been brought in.

~snip~
Police have long been accused of operating more like assassins than law enforcement officers in Honduras, but few cases ever have been investigated. In the past year, police were alleged to have been involved in the deaths of a prominent Honduran radio journalist and the son of a former police chief — but neither killing has been solved.

Despite millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Honduras aimed at professionalizing the country’s police, accusations persist.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/honduran-gang-member-missing-after-police-arrest-suggests-pattern-of-forced-disappearances/2013/03/14/980a0426-8ce0-11e2-adca-74ab31da3399_story.html

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. That's a nice way of saying they've got that death squad thing going on again down there.