Posted on 08/01/2005 8:49:36 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras- A 13-year-old gang member and his teenaged bodyguard have been arrested in the killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent during an apparent bungled robbery, a Honduran official said Sunday.
DEA Special Agent Timothy Markey was shot to death on Friday while on vacation visiting a popular Roman Catholic shrine in Tegucigalpa.
The suspects were identified as Erlan Colindres, who has escaped three times from correctional centers, and his 13-year-old bodyguard Manuel Romero. Police described both as seasoned gang members.
"They are dangerous offenders, despite their young ages," Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said Sunday.
Honduran authorities are struggling to combat high rates of violent crime, much of it involving ruthless youth gangs, known as "maras," concentrated in urban areas.
The Mara Salvatrucha and rival Mara 18 have about 100,000 members and control poor neighborhoods in Honduras' principal cities using violence, threats and extortion.
On a two-day break in the Honduran capital, Markey took a cab from his hotel to visit the Basilica of Suyapa, a shrine to the country's patron saint, where he was confronted by two assailants and shot twice, according to testimony from his taxi driver.
Honduran authorities said the U.S. agent had been training Honduran police involved in drug interdiction efforts. He was assigned to the General Watch Unit at the El Paso Intelligence Center in El Paso, Texas, at the time of his death.
Just another reason to never, never leave the US.
On a two-day break in the Honduran capital, Markey took a cab from his hotel to visit the Basilica of Suyapa, a shrine to the country's patron saint, where he was confronted by two assailants and shot twice, according to testimony from his taxi driver.
Honduran authorities said the U.S. agent had been training Honduran police involved in drug interdiction efforts. He was assigned to the General Watch Unit at the El Paso Intelligence Center in El Paso, Texas, at the time of his death.
Those two little turds had better be punished for this act. If the Honduran authorities do nothing, no more money for this piece of crap country.
OFF TOPIC, but suspect was from Honduras.
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http://www.wtop.com/?sid=560245&nid=25
AP
"Day Laborer Charged in Burned Body Case"
Updated: Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 - 6:19 PM
By DERRILL HOLLY
Associated Press Writer
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "FAIRFAX, Va. - Surveillance camera video led police to a day laborer charged with murdering a man whose badly burned body was found in Annandale.
Investigators on Tuesday credited help from other day laborers who were shown pictures taken by the camera. Carlos Bustamonte-Medieta, 29, a Honduran national who lives in Annandale, was nabbed on a fugitive warrant Monday night after voluntarily speaking with officers.
Police believe contractor Hak Bong Kim hired the suspect to help with electrical work at a home in Chevy Chase, Md., on Aug. 14, the day Kim was last seen alive.
"There were blood spots that were found on the scene," said Lieut. Phil Raum, deputy director of the Montgomery County Police Department's Major Crimes Division. An autopsy determined Kim, 55, had been stabbed to death. A passer-by discovered his remains in a wooded area of Annandale on Aug. 15."
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