Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Honduran police have discovered a Mexican-run cocaine laboratory, the first ever found in the Central American country, in a sign that the Colombian-dominated production of the drug is moving north.
Police found the lab – a crude shack with a metal roof – in a mountainous area about 100 miles north of the capital Tegucigalpa. An electricity generator, barrels of chemicals, filters, scales, and tools to process cocaine were found at the site, but no one was arrested.
"The townspeople in the region say a helicopter would land here, operated by guys with Mexican accents. This is not a Colombian lab, it has to be a Mexican lab," Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said.
Colombia has long been the world's top producer of cocaine, but powerful Mexican cartels now largely control the trafficking of the drug north to the US. Central America is a strategic smuggling corridor and is increasingly a staging ground for Mexican gangs. But the lab would be one of the first signs Mexicans are manufacturing cocaine themselves.
"What we have here is a top-notch, Colombia-style laboratory which is very worrying because it's the first time we have found cocaine processing in Honduras," Mr Alvarez said.
The growing presence of the drug gangs in Central America is increasing violence in an already dangerous region.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments