Honduran police say drug trafficking has increased since US suspension of aid to protest coup

October 14th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian airport police detained a Philippine national who is seven months pregnant after she was allegedly caught carrying a cocaine-soaked jacket, news reports said Wednesday. The 24-year-old woman was detained Friday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after officers checked her fleece-lined jacket and said they found it was soaked with about 2 kg of liquid cocaine, the Star newspaper said.

October 5th, 2009 US official: Honduras stance hurts anti-drug opsTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The suspension of American aid and high-level contact with Honduras' interim government following the ouster of its president in a coup is hurting anti-drug efforts, a U.S. Congresswoman said after meeting with officials in the troubled country.

August 15th, 2009 Firebombs hurled at Honduran newspaper officeTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A Honduran editor says assailants threw molotov cocktails at the offices of his newspaper, setting fire to the entrance. El Heraldo chief editor Fernando Berrio says security guards were the only ones in the building at the time.

August 2nd, 2009 Honduran man shot during pro-president march diesTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A Honduran educator who was shot in the head while protesting the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya died Saturday after being in a coma for two days, a teachers union leader said. Roger Vallejo, a 38-year-old high school teacher in the capital of Tegucigalpa, was wounded on Thursday as thousands of Zelaya supporters blocked a highway and clashed with security forces, although police allege he was shot by his fellow protesters.

July 6th, 2009 MANAGUA - Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega Sunday denied an accusation from Honduras' post-coup government that Nicaraguan troops were massing on their shared border. "Brother Honduran soldiers, brother Honduran officials, I want to assure you, swearing before God and nation, that Nicaragua is not deploying troops towards Honduras and that we are not preparing any kind of attack on Honduran garrisons on the border," he told domestic radio.

July 5th, 2009 Zelaya says he's optimist, will return to HondurasWASHINGTON — Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya says he's optimistic and is still planning to return Sunday to his country a week after he was overthrown by a military coup. Zelaya said as he arrived at the Organization of American States building that everyone is rejecting the coup.

July 5th, 2009 Zelayo says he's optimist, will return to HondurasWASHINGTON — Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya says he's optimistic and is still planning to return Sunday to his country a week after he was overthrown by a military coup. Zelaya said as he arrived at the Organization of American States building that everyone is rejecting the coup.

July 4th, 2009 MOHALI - Punjab police Saturday claimed to have busted an international drug trafficking racket with the arrest of four Nigerian youths here. According to district police chief Jatinder Singh Aulakh, the four - Alexandar, Paul, Alex, Okaio Sabio - were arrested in Sector 70 with 500 grams of heroin worth Rs.50 lakh (Rs.5 million) in the international market.

July 4th, 2009 OAS eyes Honduras suspension, but beaten to punchWASHINGTON — The Organization of American States is meeting in Washington to consider suspending Honduras' membership because of the military coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. But even before Saturday's emergency session, Honduras' interim government decided to pulled out of the OAS rather than meet demands to reinstate Zelaya.

July 1st, 2009 Mayfield in court to fight NASCAR suspensionCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jeremy Mayfield is in court trying to get his indefinite suspension from NASCAR lifted by a federal judge.

July 1st, 2009 Deposed Honduran prez accused of drug tiesBOGOTA — The regime that ousted Manuel Zelaya in Honduras claimed Tuesday that the deposed president allowed tons of cocaine to be flown into the Central American country on its way to the United States. "Every night, three or four Venezuelan-registered planes land without the permission of appropriate authorities and bring thousands of pounds ...

July 1st, 2009 OAS gives 3-day deadline to Honduran coup leadersWASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Wednesday it has suspended joint military operations with Honduras to protest a coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a move that suggests the U.S. could further curtail dealings with the new Honduran government.

July 1st, 2009 Pentagon: Military cooperation on hold after coupWASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it has put cooperation with the Honduran military on hold. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says the United States has "postponed" joint operations in light of last weekend's military coup against that country's president.

June 28th, 2009 Honduran president calls arrest a 'kidnapping'SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says soldiers rousted him out of bed, beat his body guards and arrested him in his pajamas in what he criticized as "a coup" and "a kidnapping." Zelaya told a local television station Sunday that he is at the airport in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica. He said he would not recognize any attempt to name a replacement for him following his detention earlier Sunday.

June 21st, 2009 Top Italian Mafia fugitive arrested in CaracasROME — Authorities arrested one of Italy's most dangerous Mafia fugitives as he left his apartment in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Italian police said Sunday. Salvatore Miceli, suspected of being a key intermediary in the drug trafficking trade, had been under surveillance by Italian and Venezuelan police for three days before he was nabbed late Saturday, Carabinieri from the Sicilian city of Trapani said in a statement.