The Honduran authorities linked the murder of five agents of the Anti-Maras and Gangs Police Directorate against Organized Crime (DIPAMPCO) with a drug trafficking structure linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), after an operation carried out in the municipality of Omoa, in the department of Cortés.

According to official information released by the Honduran Police, the agents were participating in an intervention against a criminal organization allegedly headed by Heber Argueta, identified by the authorities as an operator with links to the Mexican criminal group.

During the action, the uniformed men were allegedly overtaken by members of the criminal structure, who kidnapped them and later murdered them.

The Honduran Security Secretariat reported that the operation was carried out without complying with all institutional security and judicial accompaniment protocols, a situation that led to the suspension of the corporation's leadership while the internal investigation is carried out.

The case occurred on a day marked by violence in the Central American country. Hours earlier, at least 19 people were murdered on an African palm farm in Trujillo, department of Colón, in an attack that authorities also attribute to organized crime. With both events, the death toll in a single day rose to 24 people.

Local and international media reported that the investigated criminal network maintains alleged links with the CJNG, an organization that in recent years has been singled out by security agencies for expanding its presence and influence on drug trafficking routes in Central America.

After the murders, the Honduran government announced the deployment of military forces in the affected areas and the installation of a “crisis command” made up of intelligence bodies, the Armed Forces and the Prosecutor's Office, with the aim of locating those responsible. The Honduran president assured that the crimes will not go unpunished.