And in other regional news, Central American police and security forces are currently on high alert after news broke this weekend that 22 dangerous gang members escaped from one of Honduras' most overcrowded prisons. The members of the Barrio 18 gang were being held at the Marco Aurelio Soto prison just North of Tegucigalpa, a facility designed to hold about 8000 inmates, but currently houses 17000. The gangsters were scheduled to be moved to a higher security prison due to their heavy involvement in extortion, murders and drug trafficking within prison walls. However, according to reports, news of their transfer did not sit well with the gangsters, which prompted the escape. The inmates escaped last Thursday, but it was not reported until Saturday. The director and multiple guards at the military run prison have been put on leave.
And they are definitely very dangerous: The gangsters were incarcerated on a number of charges including homicide, illegal storage of munitions of war, arms dealing, drugs trafficking, illegal possession of police equipment and vehicle theft to name a few.
This is the second major prison break in the region this year. In January, members of the notorious MS-13 gang escaped a El Salvador prison. The high concentration of Salvadorian nationals in Belize put the Belize Police Department and BDF on guard. Belize also has a large Honduran population, so it is likely that authorities will similarly be on alert.
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