TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – State Department officials say the U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration has opened an investigation into a drug raid in aremote Central American jungle where local authorities say fourpeople were killed. "There's an ongoing government investigation by the government ofHonduras into this matter. And I'm also aware that there's aseparate DEA investigation," State Department spokesman Mark Tonersaid Friday. DEA agents were working side by side with Honduran counterparts inhelicopters during a predawn operation May 11 that authorities havesaid was tracking a cocaine shipment as it was unloaded from aplane and onto a boat.
Officials say the boat was near a pier, andbeyond that lay a small cluster of homes. There are various versions about what happened, and details aredisputed. Someone fired on the law enforcement agents first, and Honduranofficers returned fire, a DEA official told The Associated Press onTuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because theinvestigations are continuing. Local police chief Ariel Bonilla has said that in hisinvestigation, he was told the law enforcement agents fired first.He said he found they mistakenly shot at a passenger boat, killingfour people and wounding four more. The helicopters later landed ata nearby village, where residents say law enforcement agentsknocked down doors and handcuffed locals in a search for a drugtrafficker.
The DEA official said DEA agents never fired their guns during theentire incident, and expressed skepticism about who and how manypeople were killed. The official said the DEA had yet to seeverified names or information about funerals. According to family members, doctors at the nearest hospital, localofficials and police investigators in Honduras, the victimsincluded two men, Wilmer Lucas Walter, 14; and Enerson MartinezMartinez Henriquez, 21; and two women, Juana Jackson Ambrosio, 28;and Candelaria Pratt Nelson, 48. Ambrosio and Nelson were bothpregnant, their relatives said.
The AP saw locations where family members said Walter and Ambrosiowere buried and saw their names in a government death registry.Nelson and Henriquez were from a neighboring community and familymembers said they took the bodies home to be buried. AP also interviewed three people who said they suffered bulletwounds in the incident. They told AP they were sleeping in apassenger boat and awoke to the noise of helicopters. They said allthe drug traffickers got away. U.S.
law enforcement officials say Honduras has become a keytransfer point for South American drug traffickers, who land planesloaded with tons of cocaine and move the drugs into boats on itsjourney north. In March 2011, and twice in last month, gunfire broke out while DEAagents were working with Honduran national police interceptingtraffickers, the DEA official said Tuesday. The shooting on May 11 sparked demands among human rights activistsfor the U.S. to pull its law enforcement agents out of the country. The DEA official said the incident has not prompted his agency tomake any changes in its strategy, and it will continue to deployso-called Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Teams in Latin Americaand Afghanistan.
The FAST teams, each made up of 10 agents, werefirst created for work in remote areas of Afghanistan, but are veryeffective at supporting police in remote parts of Central Americaas well, he said. The DEA official said the teams typically fly in on StateDepartment helicopters and land near landing strips or piers whiledrugs are being moved. The U.S. agents' role is primarily to helplocal police on the ground communicate with each other and to feedthem information from overhead surveillance. In addition, the DEAagents can offer medical support, the official said.
Although the DEA has not said whether agents got off thehelicopters on May 11, the DEA official said they usually do. "Remember, the two biggest things were the communications and themedical support. We can't do that sitting in a helicopter," theofficial said. The official said DEA agents are armed during these operations,under an agreement with the Honduran government.
U.S. JusticeDepartment rules of engagement allow them to fire only if theybelieve someone's life is in danger. The agents on these missionsalso have advanced lifesaving training, and saved a Honduran policeofficer's life last year after he was shot in his groin. ___ Associated Press writer Martha Mendoza reported this story fromSanta Cruz, California, and Alberto Arce reported in Tegucigalpa.AP writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. I am a professional writer from Agrochemicals & Pesticides, which contains a great deal of information about laundry detergent dispenser , oval crock pot, welcome to visit!
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