While news headlines often scream of unrelenting violence, the story of crime in Honduras is actually a complex tale of both staggering progress and persistent, deeply rooted challenges, as revealed by a closer look at the numbers.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Honduras reported 247 homicides in the first quarter alone, marking a 25% decrease from the previous year but still one of the highest in Central America
- The homicide rate in Honduras dropped to 35.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 from 38.9 in 2021, according to official data
- San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second-largest city, had a homicide rate of 72 per 100,000 in 2021, down from over 100 in previous years
- MS-13 gang responsible for 28% of homicides in northern Honduras in 2022
- Barrio 18 gang carried out 156 verified homicides in Honduras in 2021
- Gangs control 80% of extortion rackets in San Pedro Sula, leading to 300 gang-related murders in 2022
- Honduras cocaine seizures reached 28 tons in 2022, primarily from Pacific routes controlled by Mexican cartels
- 75% of cocaine transiting Honduras originates from Colombia, with 90% air-dropped
- Sinaloa Cartel operates 12 clandestine airstrips in Honduras for drug flights
- Corruption scandals led to 150 police officers dismissed for drug ties in 2022
- 25% of Honduras National Police are suspected of corruption, per 2023 audits
- Former President Juan Orlando Hernández convicted in US for drug-related corruption in 2024
- Honduras recorded 12,500 robberies in 2022, with 40% armed
- Extortion complaints surged 25% to 5,800 cases in 2023, mostly small businesses
- Vehicle thefts totaled 2,100 in Tegucigalpa in 2022, recovery rate 15%
Homicides have decreased in Honduras but gang violence and corruption remain severe.
Corruption and Institutional Crime
- Corruption scandals led to 150 police officers dismissed for drug ties in 2022
- 25% of Honduras National Police are suspected of corruption, per 2023 audits
- Former President Juan Orlando Hernández convicted in US for drug-related corruption in 2024
- $500 million in public contracts awarded corruptly in Honduras 2018-2022
- 78% of Hondurans perceive high-level corruption in judiciary, 2023 survey
- 320 customs officials investigated for drug bribery in 2022
- Honduras Corruption Perceptions Index score 23/100 in 2022, ranking 157/180
- 45 mayors arrested for narco-corruption since 2018 in Honduras
- Police extortion cases rose 30% to 1,200 in 2023
- $2.5 billion laundered through banks via corrupt officials in 2021
- 60% of public procurement in Honduras involves bribes, per 2022 study
- MACCIH investigated 250 corruption cases before closure in 2021
- Judicial bribery convictions reached 89 in 2023, highest on record
- Military purged 400 officers for corruption in 2022 reforms
- 92% impunity for corruption crimes in Honduras
Corruption and Institutional Crime Interpretation
Honduras seems to be a country where the government is essentially a franchise operation for organized crime, meticulously auditing its own spectacular failure.
Drug Trafficking and Narcotics
- Honduras cocaine seizures reached 28 tons in 2022, primarily from Pacific routes controlled by Mexican cartels
- 75% of cocaine transiting Honduras originates from Colombia, with 90% air-dropped
- Sinaloa Cartel operates 12 clandestine airstrips in Honduras for drug flights
- Honduras eradicated 1,200 hectares of coca in 2022, mostly in remote Mosquitia region
- Money laundering from drugs totals $8 billion yearly in Honduras economy
- 4,500 kg of methamphetamine seized in Honduras in 2023, doubling from 2021
- Puerto Cortes handles 60% of Honduras' drug imports, with 15 tons cocaine seized in 2022
- 40% of Honduras' territory is used for drug trafficking corridors, per UN estimates
- Jalisco New Generation Cartel entered Honduras in 2021, controlling 20% of trafficking routes
- Honduras marijuana production covers 5,000 hectares annually, yielding 150 tons
- 1,200 maritime drug interdictions in Honduras waters in 2022
- Synthetic drugs like fentanyl precursors transited 500 kg through Honduras in 2023
- 85% of drugs leaving Honduras head to Mexico or US via land and sea
- La Mosquitia region facilitates 70% of aerial drug drops in Honduras
Drug Trafficking and Narcotics Interpretation
Honduras has sadly become less of a country and more of a heavily trafficked and alarmingly efficient cartel-owned toll road, with a side business in money laundering that nearly matches its legitimate GDP.
Gang Violence
- MS-13 gang responsible for 28% of homicides in northern Honduras in 2022
- Barrio 18 gang carried out 156 verified homicides in Honduras in 2021
- Gangs control 80% of extortion rackets in San Pedro Sula, leading to 300 gang-related murders in 2022
- Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) has 4,000 active members in Honduras, involved in 35% of violent gang crimes
- In 2023, 214 gang members were arrested for 89 homicides in Tegucigalpa
- Gang violence displaced 12,000 people in Honduras in 2022
- 45% of gang recruits in Honduras are under 18 years old, fueling ongoing violence cycles
- Barrio 18 controls 60% of drug sales points in Choloma, linked to 120 gang killings in 2022
- Honduras police dismantled 15 MS-13 cells in 2023, preventing an estimated 200 gang homicides
- Gang tattoos are used to identify 70% of perpetrators in gang violence cases in Honduras
- Extortion by gangs generates $250 million annually in Honduras, enforcing violence with 400 murders yearly
- 1,200 gang-related assaults reported in Cortes department in 2022
- Youth gang membership in Honduras rose 12% in 2022 to 15,000 members
- MS-13 and Barrio 18 truce collapsed in 2014, leading to 2,500 additional gang deaths by 2020
- 55% of gang violence occurs in public transport routes in Honduras cities
- Honduras deported 1,800 gang members from the US in 2022, sparking 150 revenge killings
- Gang-controlled neighborhoods in La Ceiba saw 89 murders in 2023
- 30% of gang violence victims are informants or rivals, per 2022 police data
Gang Violence Interpretation
The statistics paint a brutal, self-perpetuating economy where gangs, recruiting children as both fuel and fodder, tax the populace with extortion and bloodshed to fund their territorial disputes over drugs and turf.
Homicide Statistics
- In 2023, Honduras reported 247 homicides in the first quarter alone, marking a 25% decrease from the previous year but still one of the highest in Central America
- The homicide rate in Honduras dropped to 35.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 from 38.9 in 2021, according to official data
- San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second-largest city, had a homicide rate of 72 per 100,000 in 2021, down from over 100 in previous years
- Between 2015 and 2022, Honduras saw a 64% reduction in homicides, from 5,348 to 3,058 cases
- In 2020, 79% of homicides in Honduras were committed with firearms, the highest proportion in Latin America
- Tegucigalpa recorded 512 homicides in 2022, accounting for 17% of the national total
- Youth aged 15-29 made up 45% of homicide victims in Honduras in 2021
- The homicide rate for men in Honduras was 102 per 100,000 in 2019, compared to 6.5 for women
- From January to August 2023, Honduras had 2,104 homicides, a 10% decline year-over-year
- Impunity rate for homicides in Honduras stands at 92%, with only 8% of cases resulting in convictions
- Cortes department reported 789 homicides in 2022, the highest in the country
- In 2019, 87% of homicides occurred in urban areas of Honduras
- Honduras' homicide rate peaked at 90.4 per 100,000 in 2011
- 65% of homicides in Honduras in 2022 were linked to organized crime disputes
- Francisco Morazán department saw 421 homicides in 2023's first half
- Female homicide victims increased by 15% in 2022 to 278 cases, often femicide-related
- 1,452 homicides occurred in the Atlantic region of Honduras in 2021
- Average of 8.4 homicides per day in Honduras in 2022
- 72% of homicide perpetrators in Honduras are known to victims, often family or acquaintances
- Homicides in rural areas rose 20% in 2023, reaching 456 cases
Homicide Statistics Interpretation
Despite commendable reductions in violence, Honduras still grapples with a deeply entrenched epidemic of homicide, where a staggering 92% impunity rate ensures that each statistical 'improvement' feels less like progress and more like a temporary ceasefire in a war the state is failing to prosecute.
Theft, Robbery, and Extortion
- Honduras recorded 12,500 robberies in 2022, with 40% armed
- Extortion complaints surged 25% to 5,800 cases in 2023, mostly small businesses
- Vehicle thefts totaled 2,100 in Tegucigalpa in 2022, recovery rate 15%
- 65% of robberies occur on public buses in Honduras urban areas
- Residential burglaries rose 18% to 4,200 in 2023 first half
- Street robberies average 35 per day nationwide in 2022
- Phone and purse snatching cases: 8,500 in San Pedro Sula 2022
- Extortion victims paid $200 million in 2022, average $500 per case
- Commercial theft losses reached $150 million in Honduras 2023
- 70% of thefts unsolved, impunity rate 85% for property crimes
- Motorcycle thefts up 40% to 1,800 in 2022, popular for gang use
- ATM robberies: 450 incidents in 2023, with $2 million stolen
- Rural cattle theft caused $50 million losses in 2022
- 3,200 shoplifting cases reported in supermarkets 2023
- Carjacking incidents: 950 in 2022, 60% recovered damaged
- Extortion via social media threats rose 50% to 1,200 cases in 2023
Theft, Robbery, and Extortion Interpretation
Honduras is hemorrhaging money and safety to the point where its crime statistics read less like a police blotter and more like the nation's bleakest business ledger, detailing a sprawling enterprise of theft, extortion, and impunity that preys on everyone from bus riders to cattle ranchers.
Sources & References
- Reference 1INSIGHTCRIMEinsightcrime.orgVisit source
- Reference 2UNODCunodc.orgVisit source
- Reference 3MACROTRENDSmacrotrends.netVisit source
- Reference 4STATEstate.govVisit source
- Reference 5SMALLARMSSURVEYsmallarmssurvey.orgVisit source
- Reference 6LAPRENSAlaprensa.hnVisit source
- Reference 7UNICEFunicef.orgVisit source
- Reference 8PAHOpaho.orgVisit source
- Reference 9ELHERALDOelheraldo.hnVisit source
- Reference 10AMNESTYamnesty.orgVisit source
- Reference 11SOPTRAVIsoptravi.gob.hnVisit source
- Reference 12IADEPiadep.orgVisit source
- Reference 13WORLDBANKworldbank.orgVisit source
- Reference 14UNWOMENunwomen.orgVisit source
- Reference 15OBSERVATORIODEVIOLENCIAobservatoriodeviolencia.org.hnVisit source
- Reference 16ACNURacnur.orgVisit source
- Reference 17POLICIANACIONALpolicianacional.gob.hnVisit source
- Reference 18IOMiom.intVisit source
- Reference 19CRISISGROUPcrisisgroup.orgVisit source
- Reference 20MIGRATIONPOLICYmigrationpolicy.orgVisit source
- Reference 21DEAdea.govVisit source
- Reference 22IMFimf.orgVisit source
- Reference 23ARMADAarmada.mil.hnVisit source
- Reference 24TRANSPARENCYtransparency.orgVisit source
- Reference 25JUSTICEjustice.govVisit source
- Reference 26OASoas.orgVisit source
- Reference 27LATINOBAROMETROlatinobarometro.orgVisit source
- Reference 28FATF-GAFIfatf-gafi.orgVisit source
- Reference 29PODERJUDICIALpoderjudicial.gob.hnVisit source
- Reference 30GLOBALINTEGRITYglobalintegrity.orgVisit source
- Reference 31INEine.gob.hnVisit source
- Reference 32CAMARAHONDURAScamarahonduras.orgVisit source
- Reference 33BCNbcn.gob.hnVisit source
- Reference 34SAGsag.gob.hnVisit source