Central America: Cocaine Smugglers Return to the Sea

The number of flights carrying cocaine through Honduras, the most common gateway to Central America for U.S.-bound cocaine, appears to have fallen drastically over the past 18 months. Honduran authorities have not reported any seizures of drug-smuggling planes in 2014, and only eight such interdictions were reported in 2013. By comparison, 50 seizures were reported in 2009. During a visit to Honduras in February, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield said the number of suspected smuggling flights detected by the United States had fallen by around 75 percent since 2011, when 100 such aircraft were spotted. Brownfield's announcement reinforced a Honduran air force claim that drug flights in the third quarter of 2013 fell by 50 percent from the previous year.

However, the apparent decline in aerial smuggling of cocaine does not mean that authorities have stemmed the flow of drugs through Central America. Instead, narcotics traffickers have likely shifted to maritime transport in response to increased attention on drug-laden aircraft by U.S. and Honduran authorities.