DAY EIGHT: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

What Happened Today

• Protected witness “Jose Sánchez” finishes testimony

• Protected witness “Jorge Medina” testifies

• DEA Special Agent Sandalio Gonzalez begins on the stand

Key Details That Surfaced

• Attorney General Oscar Chinchilla was briefly mentioned again in emails between Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) and his son while GFR was in a US jail. GFR’s sons said that GFR’s partners (military official ‘Comanche’ or Police Commissioner Martinez) told GFR’s sons to talk to Chinchilla directly to see if Chinchilla can help them get the documents that GFR was urgently requesting from jail in the US.

• After the government made public filings in the Tony Hernandez case, prosecutors used geographical location information extracted from GFR’s phone to show that he went to the Presidential palace in at least a few occasions.

• Clips of the video [have to watch a description of other cases as outlined by the Pro-Honduras Network before the actual clips start] of GFR’s post-arrest interview was shown in court. GFR admitted to knowing Los Cachiros; Melvin Sanders (“Metro); Fuad Jarufe; drug trafficker Edgar Rios (“Pluto”;) the assassin “Vaquero”; Chepe Handal; Comanche; Police Sub-Commissioner Sauceda; amongst others mentioned throughout the trial.

What Will Happen Tomorrow

• DEA Special Agent Sandalio Gonzalez will continue on the stand (cross examination)

• A firearms expert will testify

• The government may call an electronic expert and if not, the government is expected to rest its case.

On a Separate but Related Note: Tony Hernandez’s Sentencing

Juan Orlando Hernandez’s brother, Tony Hernandez’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 23, 2021. The same judge, Judge Castel who is hearing GFR’s case, will be sentencing Hernandez. A document filed last night by the US prosecutors asks for a life sentence for Tony Hernandez and outlines damning information making reference to post-conviction contextual developments involving Juan Orlando Hernandez. A summary will be posted shortly.

Photo: Pro-Honduras Network

More Details

Cross Examination of Protected Witness “Jose Sanchez” (pseudonym)

NOTE: The Defense attempted to poke holes in Jose Sanchez’s testimony. They raised issues suggesting that Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR)’s did not have an illicit business relationship (coffee and biomass) with businessman Jarufe; that despite the US government’s allegations against GFR, the US government maintained it’s support and training to the Honduran government and state security forces; that Fuad Jarufe’s support for the National party was not unusual and that he allowed the National Party to use his office for meetings; that Jose Sanchez’s recollection of the dates of the meetings between JOH and GFR were not clear/reported wrong suggesting that the witness had lied; that the witness had committed crimes of money laundering by depositing money he knew was linked to drug traffickers, etc.

This is new information that surfaced:

• The witness saw Juan Orlando Hernandez approximately 9-11 times starting in 2013.

• The witness called JOH a thief to his face when JOH visited his boss at some point. JOH just smiled and didn’t seem offended.

• The witness said that the type of cattle that was sold to his boss Jarufe was the type of cattle used by drug traffickers to transport drugs. Drugs are put inside the cattle.

• GFR was given a property by Los Cachiros which he used to plant malanga (a root vegetable)

• Witness visited the US on 3-4 occasions before staying in 2015 and requesting asylum.

  • He decided to stay in 2015 when he was visiting because he received a call from Honduras informing him that Cristian Ayala had been killed (see yesterday’s notes).

  • The defense questioned the witness about what he was receiving in exchange for his testimony including if his lawyer had asked for the US government to pay for his immigration fees.

Protected Witness Jorge Medina (pseudonym)

• From San Pedro Sula. An agricultural engineer.

• Started working at Ganaderos (Ganaderos Agricultores del Norte, S. de R.L. de C.V, a livestock company owned Los Cachiros that was sanctioned by the US Office for Foreign Assets Control in 2013) from 2007/2008 to 2012.

  • He was first based in Tocoa, Colona for 8 to 10 months and then worked in Choloma.

  • When in Choloma, he worked with Ganaderos supervising the planting of corn and rice.

Meeting Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) Through Los Cachiros

• First met GFR in 2010. Melvin Sanders (“Metro”) [deceased, GFR’s business partner referred to several times by government witness Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga on day three and day four] and Isidro Rivera (the younger brother of Javier and Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, Los Cachiros) introduced the witness to GFR. Metro was a cousin of the Rivera Maradiaga brothers.

  • First met Javier Rivera Maradiaga in approximately 2007 and 2008.

  • The witness first met Metro in late 2009 at a party for Javier Rivera Maradiaga’s daughter in a ranch in Choloma. The Valle brothers were also there. Javier, Los Valle and Metro had bodyguards with them and all were armed (with semi-automatic pistols and AR15s)

  • Government showed a picture of Melvin Sanders (“Metro”) and Yankel Rosenthal together. The witness identified them both by name.

  • The witness saw Javier Rivera Maradiaga several times. Javier usually had 2-4 people protecting him. Devis Leonel Rivera also had approx. 7 security guards and all were also armed with semi-automatic pistols and AR-15s.

• The witness first saw GFR in 2010 when he came to Choloma. Javier Rivera Maradiaga was going to rent a property to GFR and Metro so that they could plant malanga (a root vegetable)

• The witness was supposed to supervise the part of the malanga project that belonged to him. He took care of 4 properties and GFR’s malanga project/land was located approximately 5 kms away.

• The witness saw GFR 3-4 times a week.

Hearing About the Raid On the Drug Lab

• The witness had heard of the raid on the drug lab. Following the raid, he didn’t see GFR for approximately 1 to 2 months.

Business Between Isidro Rivera (brother of Los Cachiros) and GFR

• The witness learned that GFR sold rice seed to Isidro Rivera at one point when he and his workers were planting. His workers called the witness to tell him that the seed was no good.

• The witness then called Isidro Rivera and told him that the seed was useless.

• GFR then called the witness. Hew as very upset and asked why they were messing with this, to not be snitches and threatened that he was going to waste them.

• At another point, the witness learned that Isidro Rivera was selling wood chips to GFR. GFR had asked the witness to help him with the project. The witness said that Agroforestales Fuentes (GFR’s business) was paying too low a price for the wood chips (used for biomass). Isidro Rivera then told the witness that they would not keep selling the wood chips at such price.

  • In response, GFR called the witness. He was very upset and told the witness not to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, to stop being a snitch and that he was going to waste him.

• Isidro then found another company to buy the wood chips. The witness received a call from that person who had been stopped at a checkpoint. The person said that the police of Choloma attempted to seize his vehicle, but then returned it, and made him dump the load of biomass. The witness was called at a later time and told by the same person, that the load of biomass was being loaded onto a Agroforestales Fuentes vehicle.

Relationship with Businessman Fuad Jarufe Through GFR

• Granaderos closed (after the OFAC sanctions) and later, GFR told the witness that businessman Fuad Jarufe wanted to speak with him. The witness went to speak with Jarufe in approximately in mid-2012 and 2013.

• Jarufe sent a proposal to Javier Rivera Maradiaga through the witness that he (Jarufe) would provide Javier with security so that no one could touch him because Jarufe had collaborated a lot with the National Party and he could manage the situation with Juan Orlando Hernandez. This would cost Javier Rivera Maradiaga $5 million.

  • The witness spoke to Javier about that.

  • GFR called the witness again to ask him if he had communicated the proposal to Javier.

Seeing GFR with Heavy Weapons

• GFR spoke to the witness about firearms.

• At one point, GFR showed him a AR15 he owned and had in his house.

• GFR told him that the AR15 was given to him by a high-level police or military (he couldn’t remember which).

Cross-Examination by the Defense

• The witness stayed in contact with Javier Rivera Maradiaga’s wife after Javier surrendered. The witness last spoke to Javier when he pitched Jarufe’s proposal to him.

• Javier called the witness from the US asking him if he would testify about the things that he knew about Jarufe and GFR. Then Javier put him on the phone with the DEA. Despite asking him to testify, the witness assured that what he said about communication between GFR and Jarufe is true (the defense pushed him on this).

Government Witness DEA Special Agent Sandalio Gonzalez

NOTE: Various aspects of this particular testimony were hard to note because several video clips were shown quickly between questions.

• A DEA agent for approximately 21 years. A group supervisor for one of the Latin American teams on the DEA Special Operations Bilateral Investigation Unit. The Latin America teams focus on Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

Arresting GFR (The Defendant)

• Special agent Gonzalez arrested GFR on March 1, 2020 in Miami. He later conducted a post-arrest interview with him in Spanish. This interview (like in the case against Tony Hernandez) was videotaped.

Pictures and Video Clips Viewed in Court

NOTE: WATCH ONE VIDEO WITH ALL THE CLIPS HERE. Throughout the direct examination of Special Agent Gonzalez, several clips of the interview were shown in court. The agent was shown various pictures, asked to identify the person(s), and then the respective videoclip of the post-arrest video where the agent and GFR discuss the person(s) in the post-arrest interview was played for everyone in the court.

After several video clips were shown (from #1 to #15), the prosecutors along with Special Agent Gonzalez, presented emails that GFR had written since being in prison in the US as well as chats and geographical location data taken from GFR’s cell phone and GFR’s son’s ICloud account. Emails and video clips (From #16 on list above and on) were shown in a mixed manner.

1. Clip showing Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez being read his rights at a table. (The video is very similar to the angle and settings of the Tony Hernandez post-interview video)

2. The agent is shown a picture of Melvin Sanders “Metro” [GFR’s business partner, now deceased, a cousin of the Rivera Maradiaga brothers]. Clip: Agent asks GFR if he knows Melvin Sanders. GFR says he does.

3. Picture of the Cachiro brothers (Leonel and Javier). Clip: GFR says that he knew Los Cachiros but he didn’t have any business with them. He met them at parties.

4. Clip: GFR asked if he knows Graneros Nacionales. GFR said that he worked with them and that it is a rice company. Mr. Fuad Jarufe was a good friend of his and he died approximately 2 years ago at 86 years old. GFR said he had coffee with him everyday and that his daughter manages another company he has. Jarufe lent GFR money but “money through banks”

5. Clip: Agent asking GFR if he had met the Cachiros. GFR said that he met them through Melvin (“Metro). One of GFR’s sons married the daughter of one of Los Cachiros.

6. Clip: Melvin introduced GFR to Leonel Rivera Maradiaga

7. Clip: Metro had a night club on a property belonging to Fuad Jarufe in Choloma near a pharmacy and a warehouse. He went to the night club for parties and meetings

8. Clip: Javier Rivera Maradiaga went to the night club for a birthday party

9. Clip: Agent asked if GFR did business with the Cachiros. GFR responded that he had sold him 2 cars: a small car and a truck approximately 12 years ago. GFR believed the price was approximately $16,000 but couldn’t remember. He sold him the car because his father was ill. GFR was paid in cash.

10. Clip: GFR said he knew the Cachiros but he didn’t have any business with them. Last time he spoke to them was by telephone approximately 1 year before they were “extradited” [GFR’s words]. He saw Leonel last in a gas station in Omoa – the one owned by Los Cachiros.

11. Clip: Agent asked GFR if he knew of a drug lab. GFR said that they found one on Fuad’s property and that it was owned by a man from Belize. GFR went to provide testimony to authorities about it. Nothing was found in the lab. It was a property owned by Fuad Jarufe who bought it from Tavo Torres. GFR did maintenance on a coffee plantation close by. Fuad gave him the property afterwords. A “soccer official”, a council member from Choloma, lived near the property as well.

12. Clip: GFR admitted to knowing Edgar Rio “Pluto.” They had met in Choloma and GFR knew that he was a drug trafficker.

13. Clip: Agent asked GFR if he knew ‘Vaquero’ [an assassin used to commit murders for Los Cachiros]. GFR responded that Vaquero had grown up in Choloma and began working with Melvin (Metro) as security. GFR said that Vaquero had threatened one of GFR’s sons.

14. Clip: GFR admitted to knowing Chepe Handal, who he referred to as “Chepito.” They studied in a similar institution. GFR claimed that “everyone in Honduras knows him,” he was a cousin of Fuad Jarufe and owned Auto Parts Handal in San Pedro Sula.

15. Clip: GFR said he knew of the Valles but he had never met them.

16. Clip: Agent asked about whether GFR knew Leopoldo Crivelli. GFR said that he was the mayor of Choloma and had been for 4 periods. GFR admitted to giving Crivelli campaign donations of approximately 120,000 Lempiras by cheque from GFR’s company.

17. Clip: GFR admits to knowing Fabio Lobo. Ricardo Maduro was a good friend of Fuad Jarufe.

18. Clip: Agent asks about Juan Orlando Hernandez. GFR responded that JOH would visit Fuad and had gone many times to Graneros to seek support for his campaign.

19. Clip: Agent asked if Jarufe had given money to JOH’s campaign. GFR responded that Jarufe had given JOH money. That Jarufe and Fufu Canahuati coordinated the National Party in San Pedro Sula.

20. Clip: Agent asked GFR if he knew some police officers. GFR responded that he knew some. He knew Ramon Martinez who he had traveled to Orlando with last year. He knew Cruz Mendoza, Nelvin Sauceda (had met him in family gatherings), Wilson Alvarenga, Mejía Vargas (who was dismissed from the police, formerly the police chief in Choloma but was challenging his dismissal)

The government along with Special Agent Gonzalez then presented emails that GFR had written since being in prison in the US as well as chats taken from GFR’s cell phone. Emails and video clips (From #16 on list above and on) were shown in a mixed manner.

Chats and Other Data Extracted From GFR’s Phone and His Son’s ICloud Account

• A chat with Comanche (a military official) briefly discussing the murder of a lawyer linked to the Valle brothers.

• Phone records showing that GFR had Leopoldo Crivelli’s phone numbers.

• The prosecutor presented geographical location data extracted from the application Waze on GFR’s phone on the days following public filings in May and June 2019 related to the Tony Hernandez case. The data showed that:

  • GFR had been at the Presidential palace on May 29, 2019 at 10:57 am

  • GFR had been at the Presidential palace on June 12, 2019

• The prosecutor presented chats from GFR’s ICloud account between individuals shortly after public filings were made in the US case against GFR and referred to co-conspirators. The chats reveal that its participants were able to identify who the co-conspirators are.

  • One public filing was made on January 8th and another on January 11-12, 2021.

  • A chat between two of Geovanny’s sons show that they discussed CC-10 (Julio César Barahona, former member of the Judiciary council); CC-1 (Melvin Sanders or ‘Metro’, GFR’s business partner), Edgar Rios (Honduran drug trafficker known as ‘Pluto’) and CC-4 (“Juancho” or Juan Orlando Hernandez)

GFR’s Prison Emails to His Sons

• The prison emails were written between December 28, 2020 to January 8, 2021.

  • In one email, GFR is asking his son for key information he needs for his trial. He asks for facts on Gonzalez, information about a mechanic found half-buried in Choloma, and facts about Cerro Negro. He also makes reference to speaking with Comanche and Martinez. [No contextual information was given related to these emails]

  • GFR’s son responds saying he had spoken to Comanche and Martinez and was “tapping” Sauceda.

Diagram Outlining Cases Against “Defendants Brought or Arrested in SDNY”

• The chart included the following names, how the accused were brought to the Southern District of New York and the year.

  • Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga – surrendered – 2015

  • Juan Miguel Avila Meza – surrendered – 2016

  • Hector Emilio Fernandez Rosa (“Don H”) – extradited from Honduras – 2015

  • Fabio Lobo – Explusion (Haiti) – 2015

  • Victor Hugo Díaz Morales – Extradited (Guatemala) – 2017

  • Fredy Nájera – surrendered – 2018

  • Alfonso Sierra Vargas “Renteria” – surrendered - 2012

DAY SEVEN: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

What Happened Today:

• Honduran historian Darío Euraque finished on the stand

• Protected witness “Jose Sánchez” began to testify

Key Details That Surfaced:

• The protected witness heard President Juan Orlando Hernandez make several shocking statements in different meetings held in the offices of the rice company, Graneros Nacionales in Choloma, including:

  • That JOH had plans to stay in power for 25 years; had put Oscar Chinchilla as Attorney General to “protect them and to avoid charges”; and that together, Chinchilla and Mauricio Oliva (the current President of Congress) were working to amend laws in their favor.

  • JOH boasted about how he was robbing the social security funds and claimed: “we are stealing better than in Callejas times and no one can stop us.”

  • JOH said: “We are going to shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos and they won’t even know it.”

  • In a meeting with businessman Fuad Jarufe and Leopoldo Crivelli (current mayor of Choloma), JOH said: “The Honduran people are idiots, give them a piece of meat, a beer, and they will give you their vote”

• Julio Cesar Barahona, a former member of the Judiciary Council received a bribe from GFR and was instructed by “his boss” (understood to be President Juan Orlando Hernandez) to assist in cleaning up Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez’s criminal record in relation to his drug trafficking activities.

• On two occasions, GFR met with JOH in Graneros Nacionales and according to the witness, gave JOH two bribes: One for $10,000 and the second for $15,000. The witness made two copies of the videos tapes of the security cameras of one of these two meetings. He gave one to Prosecutor Marlene Banegas [murdered in October 2014] and another to Cristian Ayala [no details given about this person but could be the son of a Sub-Commissioner of the Police, Cristian Ayala Vigil, who was murdered in June 2015].

• The witness found a box in the Graneros Nacionales’s office with police vests and army and police uniforms in it. It was addressed to GFR and a label saying it was from the 105 Military Brigade, formerly commanded by Hector Orlando Ponce Fonseca (the former head of the Honduran military).

What Will Happen Tomorrow:

• Protected witness “Jose Sánchez” will continue

• Another witness will be called (possibly the second protected witness)

Picture: From Pro-Honduras Network

More Details

Protected Witness “Jose Sanchez” (a pseudonym)

• 45 years old. He lived in Honduras for 40 years before relocating to the US in 2015. He fled Honduras because he felt his life was in danger. He was a witness to two meetings between Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) and Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR)

• Occupation: Accountant

• Was an employee of Graneros Nacionales for 15 years. His job was to prepare financial statements and control the company’s income and expenses.

Graneros Nacionales S.A. de C.V.

• Located in Choloma on the highway heading to Puerto Cortés.

• Fuad Jarufe Larach was the owner of Graneros Nacionales. His children also work there including Jorge Jarufe and John Jarufe (an engineer)

Bringing Money to the Graneros Nacionales’ Office

• The witness met GFR in ~2003 when Jorge Jarufe, Fuad Jarufe’s younger sons, brought him to the Graneros Nacionales office. GFR started going to Graneros Nacionales once a week. Sometimes GFR would arrive there with one other person.

• GFR would visit John Jarufe and sometimes bring money with him.

• He would bring money wrapped in rubber bands and in $20 bills totalling between $10,000 to $150,000 approximately 2 or 3 times/month.

• GFR eventually started going to the office every day but still only bring money 2 or 3 times/month.

  • The witness would receive the money, organize the bills, count it, and deposit it and then give GFR a cheque in Lempiras.

• GFR last time went into the office in approximately 2014.

• GFR spoke on the phone about Los Cachiros in the presence of the witness. He told the person he was talking to, that “he would soon get on his feet because he was going to work with Los Cachiros”

• The witness believed that “getting on his feet” meant that he was going to do financially well.

 The Cattle Truck Accident on the Highway

• A white transportation truck used to transport cattle was involved in an accident on the highway to Puerto Cortés.

• The witness went to speak with GFR’s employee following the accident, who told the witness that his boss was mad because his deal had fallen through (“se habia caido la vuelta”). According to the witness, this is a common phrase in Honduras in the type of business that GFR was involved in. The witness understood it to mean that the drugs had been seized.

• The witness saw GFR is his boss’s (Fuad jarufe) office that same day. He was upset. The witness heard him talking about Los Cachiros on the phone. At the time, Los Cachiros were “the most powerful drug trafficking gang in Honduras.”

Los Cachiros’s Business with Graneros Nacionales

• The witness met Santos Isidro Rivera Maradiaga, the youngest of the Cachiro brothers in approximately 2012 in Graneros Nacionales. When first meeting him, the witness didn’t know who he was.

  • Santos Isidro R.M. went to Graneros Nacionales to sell a load of rice. He asked the witness to prepared cheque for him. The witness got upset at this because he was eating lunch and that his lunch break wasn’t being respected [a sacred time for many in Honduras]

  • The witness prepared the cheque in his office and went to his boss’s office to get him to sign it. When he entered his boss’s office, his boss asked the witness if he knew Los Cachiros. The witness responded that he didn’t know any of them. His boss then pointed to Santos Isidro and said “that’s Cachirin” [the small Cachiro]. The witness testified that he felt scared.

• Santos Isidro came to Graneros Nacionales with GFR to sell approximately 500 cattle

  • He was paid less than 50% of the actual price (~3000 Lps) of each head. At the time a head of cattle cost approximately 7,500 Lps.

  • The witness believed it was cattle used for drug trafficking

• GFR and Santos Isidro came together to Graneros Nacionales two more times.

Delivering Money to the Drug Lab

• His boss, Fuad Jarufe, asked him on two occasions to deliver money to Cerro Negro [the location of the drug lab]. This occurred before the drug lab was raided. The drug lab was raided/discovered in 2011.

• The first time, Fuad Jarufe asked the witness to do him a favor and take the money to GFR’s property. The witness was told that the money was the payroll for GFR’s employees. It totaled 14,000 Lps. The money was packaged in a manila folder in several denominations. The Cerro Negro property was located close to the company. The witness went alone and unarmed.

  • Cerro Negro is located close to the community of La Jutosa, near Puerto Cortés and Choloma.

  • Upon arriving, a person approached the witness and asked him what he wanted. The person was dressed like “someone from the city” [in more formal attire] and armed with a semi-automatic pistol. The witness saw others in the property but from a distance. They were armed with AK47s and were dressed like people from the city. The witness told the person that approached that he brought the money. He handed him the money and left.

• The second time he visited the location of the drug lab was approximately 3 months after the first visit. His boss, Fuad Jarufe asked him to take money to GFR again for payroll.

  • The witness took 17,000 Lps packed in a manila envelop in several dominations. He went by himself.. When he arrived, the same, armed person (from the first visit) approached him and asked him what he wanted. The witness told him that he had brought the money. He turned around and left.

  • The witness saw this man in approximately 3 other occasions in Graneros Nacionales. He was with GFR and was armed.

The Raid on the Drug Lab and Meeting with Julio César Barahona (former member of the Honduran Judiciary Council)

• The witness learned of the raid of GFR’s drug lab from a TV program in 2011.

• He saw GFR approximately 30 to 40 days after the raid in the Graneros Nacionales office. It was not normal for GFR to be away from the Graneros Nacionales office for such a long period of time at that point.

• GFR was at the round table in his boss’s office when Julio Cesar Barahona arrived. According to the witness, Barahona was appointed by Juan Orlando Hernandez in his position in the judiciary.

• The witness was seated in front of his boss’s desk when Barahona entered the room and said “my boss is sending me here to help the guy any way that I can.”

  • The witness understood “the boss” to be Juan Orlando Hernandez and the “guy” to be GFR.

  • The witness understood this to mean that he was going to wipe the defendant’s record clean.

• The witness left and later, was called to make out a cheque to Barahona for 30,000 Lps from the GFR’s account. He made the cheque, took it to his boss’s office for his signature and the witness gave it to Barahona.

  • The cheque was made out to Barahona from the Graneros Nacionales’s account because GFR asked Fuad Jarufe for a loan. The witness was asked to charge the amount to GFR’s account. GFR would make sporadic payments to his account in $20 bills.

Fuad Jarufe’s Support for the National Party

• Jarufe supported the National Party and made financial contributions to politicians, particularly to JOH.

JOH’s Trips To Graneros Nacionales

• JOH would go to Graneros Nacionales “on many occasions”

• He would arrive in helicopters – a military helicopter and on two occasions, a blue helicopter. He would land on the empty lot next to his boss’s office. He arrived with his armed bodyguards and 2-3 people from Tegucigalpa.

• JOH would go to Graneros Nacionales to receive campaign contributions and for meetings at the National Party headquarters in Choloma.

• JOH received cheques for 250,000 Lps from Graneros Nacionales on a monthly basis during his Presidential campaign in 2013.

• When he was running for President in 2013, the witness saw JOH on several occasions.

Meeting With JOH at Graneros Nacionales and JOH’s Statements on Various Topics

• The witness heard JOH talk about what he would do if he won the Presidency. JOH spoke on many occasions about being untouchable.

• JOH told Fuad Jarufe that he had plans to stay in power for a minimum of 25 years and would do whatever it took to do that. But that he needed the support of the military and businessman because “the business was too good to let it go in 4 years”

• JOH mentioned Oscar Chinchilla when talking about staying in power. JOH said that he had Chinchilla in that position to protect them and to avoid charges against them.

• JOH also mentioned Mauricio Oliva (current President of Congress) when talking about staying in power. He said that Mauricio Oliva, together with Chinchilla, were working on amending the laws in their favor.

• JOH also mentioned Rafael Callejas Romero [deceased, former President of Honduras; former President of FENAFUTH (National Soccer League), accused in the US for wire fraud, etc]. The witness was in a meeting with Fuad Jarufe, JOH, and other individuals from Tegucigalpa. He heard JOH boasting about how he was robbing the social security funds and other funds and said “we are stealing better than in Callejas times and no one can stop us.”

• The witness saw Leopoldo Crivelli (nickname: Polo), the current mayor of Choloma in Fuad Jarufe’s office with JOH when JOH was running for President. The conversation was outlined as such:

  • At the round table, JOH said “so Polo are you going to run again or what?”

  • Polo responded: “Don’t be a fool, the Honduran people have opened their eyes.

  • JOH responded: “The Honduran people are idiots, give them a piece of meat, a beer, and they will give you their vote” as he smiled.

First Meeting between JOH and GFR in Graneros Nacionales

• First meeting occurred when JOH was running for the Presidency. The meeting took place at the round table in Fuad Jarufe’s office in Graneros Nacionales. Attendees: Jarufe, JOH, GFR, and witness.

  • Jarufe informed witness that JOH would be coming in the afternoon and that JOH wanted to “buy dollars from them.” JOH arrived in a military helicopter. The witness was going to receive the dollars and change them into Lempiras.

  • The witness entered the office and was told to sit and wait. He sat on the blue couch across from the round table. He was approximately 1 to 1.5 meters from JOH. He immediately felt fear because he was witnessing a Presidential candidate meeting with a drug trafficker (referring to GFR).

  • GFR addressed JOH as “Juancho,” a name used only by those that were close to JOH. In the meeting, JOH said he was interested in having GFR and his drug lab work for him (JOH).

  • JOH told GFR that he shouldn’t worry about the law because Oscar Chinchilla was there to protect them and that shipments of drugs would go through different routes and will be protected by military and police. JOH said that by the time the US knew the truth, they would have modified the laws in their favor and that Oscar Chinchilla and Mauricio Oliva were working on this and they would be untouchable.

  • JOH then took a sip of his drink and said: “we are going to shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos and they won’t even know it.”

  • The witness understood “amend laws” to mean that they would modify the law so that they wouldn’t be charged and would get rid of extradition.

  • JOH mentioned his brother, Tony Hernandez in this meeting. He said that he would give GFR Tony’s cell phone number and he would be at his disposal. GFR should follow Tony Hernandez’s instructions to transport drugs.

  • GFR then took out his briefcase and gave $15,000 in $20 bills to JOH. JOH then handed them to the witness. GFR said that the money was to support JOH’s campaign. JOH wanted the money in cash.

• There was a second meeting between JOH and GFR. In the morning, the witness’s boss called to let him know that JOH would be arriving to exchange dollars for Lempiras. The witness saw JOH and GFR in his boss’s office talking at the round table. He entered the office and sat down to wait on the blue couch.

  • They were talking about politics. GFR took a bunch of $20 out of his briefcase and gave them to JOH. GFR told him that it was to help with his campaign.

  • The witness counted it and organized it. It totaled $10,000.

Videos of the Meetings Between JOH and GFR

• There were security cameras inside Graneros Nacionales.

• One of the meetings between JOH and GFR was filmed. The witness got a copy of the video of their second meeting (above) as well as the other meeting where JOH spoke about stealing from social security.

• He obtained a copy of the video when John Jarufe, who was in charge of the cameras, gave him the pin number for the cameras.

• He made two copies of each of the two videos. He gave the copies to:

  • Prosecutor Marlene Banegas [murdered in October 2014]: She was given the copy of the video of JOH talking about stealing from social security

  • Cristian Ayala [no details given about this person but could be the son of Sub-Commissioner, Cristian Ayala Vigil, murdered in June 2015]: He was given a copy of the video of GFR meeting with JOH

• The witness was unable to get a copy of the 1st meeting between JOH and GFR. He could not find it.

GFR Mentions Ex-Honduran Police Commissioner Leonel Sauceda and his brother, Nelvin Sauceda

• GFR told the witness to write down Leonel Sauceda’s [in prison in Honduras on money laundering charges] phone number in case anything was needed while the witness’s boss, Fuad Jarufe was on ha trip to the US for a medical check-up

• The witness saw GFR with Sub-Commissioner, Nelvin Sauceda [in December 2019, Sauceda was named the director of the maximum-security prison in Siria] in Jarufe’s office.

Box of Military and Police Gear for GFR

• The witness found a medium-sized cardboard box in his boss’s office in 2014. He opened it and took it into his own office thinking that it was some stationary that he had ordered.

• The witness discovered that there were police vests and military and police uniforms inside. There was a piece of paper inside saying it was for GFR and something (unclear) that said ‘105 Brigade’ (the infantry brigade located in San Pedro Sula). The witness closed the box and put it back in its place.

• At the time, Hector Ponce Fonseca was head of the 105 Brigade.

Weapons in GFR’s Vehicle

• The witness got into GFR’s car on one occasion to go and pick up payroll money. There were no body guards in Graneros Nacionales so he went in GFR’s car along with GFR and his driver.

• The witness sat in the front passenger seat. He saw a lot of weapons in the car. The driver had a shotgun at the door, a semi-automatic on his legs and an AK47 by the stick shift.

• GFR got into the car and showed the witness a military grade, olive green weapon. He pulled it out from under the seat and said: “I hope someone crosses my path so I can debut this little toy that my friend gave me.” The witness understood “the friend” to be someone in the military

• The witness also saw GFR carrying a green weapon while in Monte Rey at his boss’s ranch. 

Last Contact With GFR

• When the witness left Graneros Nacionales, GFR had 480,000 Lempiras in several accounts.

• The witness last saw GFR in 2015 during Easter week in the Puerto Cortés Sailing Club. GFR was boarding his yacht and was with individuals armed with semi-automatic pistols.

DAY SIX: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

NOTE: Day 5 of the trial was suspended because of a health issue with a juror.

What Happened Today:

• Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (government witness and confessed drug trafficker) finished on the stand

• Honduran historian Darío Euraque began to testify.

Key Details That Surfaced:

• Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) told Rivera Maradiaga in a US prison that he was going to cooperate with the DEA in order to secure his release because he [GFR] had photos and videos of President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) receiving shipments of cocaine from Colombia at the San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa airports. According to GFR, JOH did this right in front of the DEA without the DEA knowing and JOH made fun of the DEA.

• Rivera Maradiaga worked with several Honduran government officials including the current mayor of Tocoa, Adan Funes [key actor in the Guapinol mining conflict]; Oscar Nájera [current National Party Congressional representative]; Midence Orquelí Turcios [Former Liberal party Congressman in Colon]; ex-President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo and his son, Fabio Lobo.

• During drug shipments, the police and military “would protect me [Rivera Maradiaga] on behalf of [the current Minister of Security] Pacheco Tinoco.”

• Former Honduran National Jurisdiction judge, Wendy Caballeros was Rivera Maradiaga’s girlfriend. Upon Caballero’s request, Rivera Maradiaga hired a hit man to kill one of Caballero’s rivals.

• Rivera Maradiaga paid millions of dollars in bribes to several Honduran Presidents including Porfirio Lobo, JOH, and former President Manuel Zelaya.

What Will Happen Tomorrow:

• Historian Darío Euraque will finish on the stand

• Expected testimony from witness two (An accountant whose identity is protected on request from the prosecutors)

Photo: From the Pro-Honduras Network

More Details

Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (Continued from Thursday/Day 4)

Drug Murders Around the Time Rivera Maradiaga Began Meeting with DEA

• Various murders that Rivera Maradiaga had been involved in were discussed including the murders of:

  • “El Chino” [full name: Cristian Daniel Duron Hernandez, murdered inside the Támara prison in 2015 by law enforcement agents that drug trafficker Wilter Blanco recruited to have him murdered.]

  • “Mantequilla” in the department of Colon in 2010. The Martinez brothers were sent to kidnap him and bring him to Rivera Maradiaga

  • Moncho Cabezas (full name: Ramon Antonio Ponce Romero)

• The defense focused their questioning on murders that occurred in October and November 2013, right before Rivera Maradiaga started to collaborate with the DEA. These murders included:

  • “Metro” [Melvin Sanders, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez’s business partner]

  • Sonia Ramos – Rivera Maradiaga’s sister-in-law who was murdered in Canada. Rivera Maradiaga gave Ramo’s address to hitman Aldo Barrios, who hired another hit man to kill Ramos.

  • A “rival” to Rivera Maradiaga’s girlfriend, judge Wendy Caballero in San Pedro Sula - Rivera Maradiaga paid the hitman ‘Vaquero’ to murder the (female) rival. [Wendy Caballero was removed from her position as judge in a National Jurisdiction court when she released a drug trafficker, Alexander Montes Aguilar from prison. She spent approximately 4 years in prison. She also faced charges related to another non-drug trafficking related case in 2012]

  • Alex Barrios – After Rivera Maradiaga began meeting with the DEA, drug trafficker Ramon Matta (son) suggested that they work together. Matta started to complain that someone close to him was providing information about his properties to the Honduran government. The government was seizing his properties including that that he had hidden. Matta asked Rivera Maradiaga for help trying to find out who was providing the information to the authorities. Rivera Maradiaga contacted Liana Bueso [a Honduran lawyer for the Cachiros, former Government official in the Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry (SOPTRAVI), investor in several energy projects] who told him that there were rumors that Alex Barrios was providing the information to law enforcement. Barrios was killed shortly after. Rivera Maradiaga says he did not suspect Barrios would get killed because Matta’s properties had already been raided.

  • Nahúm Palacios (journalist, murdered in March 2010). Palacios’ girlfriend Yoleny Zanchez was also killed at the same time as Palacios but Rivera Maradiaga did not know this. She died during the attack against Palacios. Palacios was murdered because Congressman Midence Martinez Turcios asked Rivera Maradiaga to murder him. Rivera Maradiaga has not been charged in Honduras for the murder but admitted to it when he turned himself over to US authorities.

  • General Aristides Gonzalez (former head of the Office to Fight Drug Trafficking (DLCN) murdered in December 2009). Various drug traffickers were involved including Ramon Matta, Valles, Nectali Duarte Mejía, Fredy Nájera). Rivera Maradiaga and others have not been charged in Honduras.

Extradition & Cooperating with the DEA & US government officials

• Before surrendering to the DEA, Rivera Maradiaga discussed and analyzed doing so with his lawyer, his brother Javier Rivera Maradiaga, his family, and his children. These discussions happened over various days.

• He decided to cooperate with US authorities because he felt cornered by the US government.

• Extradition was in place when OFAC (the US Office for Foreign Assets Control) had listed Rivera Maradiaga and his companies.

• Rivera Maradiaga wasn’t worried about extradition because he paid former President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo and Juan Orlando Hernandez for protection.

• Before surrendering to the US, Rivera Maradiaga made audio recordings of meetings with Fredy Nájera [indicted by US authorities on drug trafficking-related charges], Oscar Nájera [current National Party Congressman], Yankel Rosenthal (who was part of JOH’s government and laundered money for drug traffickers), Los Valle Valle brothers [in prison in the US], Hector Emilio Hernandez, and Ramon Matta. He also recorded meetings with corrupt police officers.

• Surrendered to the US government in January 2015. On occasions, Rivera Maradiaga gave airplane registration numbers and coordinates of locations where drug planes would land in Honduras to US authorities.

• As part of his cooperation agreement, Rivera Maradiaga’s family members were allowed to come to the US. His wife, sons/daughters, his mother and father (now deceased) came to the US. A total of 5 family members.

Hiding Assets & OFAC Listing

• Rivera Maradiaga made more than $50 million in profits from drug trafficking. He invested it in real estate, houses, cars, planes and jewelry, amongst other things.

• He was given advance notice of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions and was able to pull out 100 million lempiras [~$4 million] beforehand.

• He hid some of the money in secret compartments in cars. His family has access to the money and has used it to support his family while he has been in prison in the US. With this money, Rivera Maradiaga bought a car for the mother of his daughter and bought them a house. Rivera Maradiaga gave him mother $3000/monthly from drug money for approximately 4 years (from 2015 to 2019). Approximately $10,000 to his wife and another $7000 to the mother of another daughter. This all occurred while he was cooperating with the US government and the government has not asked for the money.

• When Rivera Maradiaga surrendered, he had ~$6 million in cash; ~$1 million in jewelry; ~$20 million in real estate, hotels, and equipment. Some of the properties were in other people’s names so it wouldn’t be seized by the government. The government has not asked for the names of these individuals hiding Rivera Maradiaga’s assets.

Violations of Prison Policy

• As part of his cooperation agreement, Rivera Maradiaga is not supposed to commit any crimes.

• While in the MCC (Metropolitian Correctional Center, MCC, located right next to the Southern District Court), he got a hold of a contraband cell phone that was in the prison before he arrived there. He rented it for several hours and made phone calls to Edwin Palacios, who was managing his business affairs and helping Rivera Maradiaga’s family.

• The government was told about the cell phone but did not cancel the cooperation agreement with Rivera Maradiaga. Rivera Maradiaga said that he informed the government of the calls he made using the phone. 

• Rivera Maradiaga was punished and put “in the box” (solitary confinement?) for 4 months.

Assistance from Politicians, Police and Military

• Rivera Maradiaga’s cousin, police officer Orlin Maradiaga Lopez, and others helped lift check points on the road in order to move shipments of drugs.

• Several military and police officials gave Rivera Maradiaga information about radars and helped him traffic drugs.

• Oscar Nájera [current National Party Congress representative for the department of Colon] started working with Rivera Maradiaga in approximately 2006.

• Juan Gomez [murdered, former National Party governor and ex-Congressional representative] helped Rivera Maradiaga obtain government contracts to build highways (as money laundering schemes).

• Rivera Maradiaga worked with Adan Funes [current LIBRE party mayor of Tocoa, who plays a large role in the mining conflict relating to the imprisonment of 8 water defenders from Guapinol and San Pedro sector in Tocoa, Colon] starting in approximately 2003. He owns a bus company.

• Started working with Midence Oquelí Martinez [indicted by US authorities and a former Congressional representative for the Liberal Party in department of Colon. Current location is unknown] in approximately 2003.

Bribes to and Working With Former President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo and His Son, Fabio Lobo

• Had a relationship with President Juan Orlando Hernandez and ex-President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo

• Rivera Maradiaga paid President Lobo a bribe of approximately $250,000 to $300,000 in exchange for protection (from getting arrested, having his property seized, and being extradited). Bribes were paid to Lobo before his election.

• Rivera Maradiaga paid Lobo a second bribe and went to his house in “El Chimbo” [located 10 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa] to meet him.

• Lobo told Rivera Maradiaga that he would be protected. Lobo told Rivera Maradiaga to call Juan Gomez [former Congressional representative] if he was worried and that Gomez would call the President’s son who would then call General Pacheco Tinoco [current Minister of Security] for him.

• After this meeting, Rivera Maradiaga began working with Fabio Lobo. Fabio Lobo began accompanying him on drug shipments.

  • Fabio Lobo would “talk to police and military police” who were also with Rivera Maradiaga and who would “protect me on behalf of [Minister] Pacheco Tinoco.”

  • Fabio Lobo would help protect drug shipments. He would have 4 Toyota Prado vehicles and military and civilians accompany him while doing this.

  • If they came across a checkpoint, Fabio Lobo would ask the driver of the vehicle to put the sirens of the vehicle on. Every time they passed checkpoints, they used sirens to avoid being stopped.

  • During the Lobo government, Rivera Maradiaga would sometimes let Fabio Lobo know ahead of time that drug shipments would be received.

Bribes to President Juan Orlando Hernandez and former President Manuel Zelaya

• In approximately 2012, Rivera Maradiaga paid approximately $250,000 as a bribe to Juan Orlando Hernandez through Oscar Nájera and Javier Rivera Maradiaga to Juan Orlando Hernandez’s sister, Hilda Hernandez.

  • The bribe was in exchange for protection, to help launder drug money, and to avoid extradition.

  • Rivera Maradiaga basically wanted to make the same deal with JOH that he had with President Lobo.

  • Paid the bribe before the elections and to other Presidential candidates.

• Rivera Maradiaga paid $500,000 to President Manuel Zelaya who promised to put his cousin Midence Orquelí as Minister of Security. The appointment did not occur.

Conversation in Jail About JOH’s Drug Trafficking Activities

• Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) told Rivera Maradiaga in a US prison that he was going to cooperate with the DEA in order to secure his release because he [GFR] had photos and videos of President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) receiving shipments of cocaine from Colombia in the San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa airports. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that JOH said that he was doing this in front of the DEA but that the DEA didn’t realize it. GFR said that JOH made fun of the DEA.

Testimony of Honduran Historian Darío Euraque

Credentials, Employment, and Expertise

• Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Lived in Honduras until 1967 then in New Orleans.

• Professor of Latin American history at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut for 30 years. Holds a BA in history, a Masters and a PhD in Latin American history.

• Focus is on Latin American and specifically Central American history.

• Wrote his doctoral thesis on the economic history of northern Honduras and has published 6 books, approximately 50-60 academic journal articles, many of which are peer-reviewed.

• Has testified approximately 55 times in asylum cases.

• Is the Chair of the History Department and the International Studies program.

• Has taught in Central America, Mexico, some parts of Europe and South America and the US.

  • In Honduras, he has taught at the national university

  • Has focused on modern Honduran history including the history of political systems, written books about race, ethnicity, and some on violence in Honduras.

• Held a government position from 2006 to 2009 as the Director of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History.

  • Appointed by the Minister of Culture at the time

  • He was responsible, by law, for overseeing museums, archeological sites around the country, historical monuments, etc.

  • His day-to-day responsibilities included traveling throughout the country to meet with regional director to make sure policy was followed by subordinates and to meet with mayors in different parts of the country particularly in municipalities where museums, archeology sites, etc. are located.

  • Left this position after the 2009 coup. He was asked to stay as the government wanted to reappoint him but he declined.

• Not part of a political party

• There was publicity surrounding him leaving the Institute including letters in support of his cultural policy work in Central America.

Expertise & Specific Questions About Honduras, Context, and People

• Stays up to date by reviewing academic work, reading Honduran media and media coverage about Honduras in the US. Visits Honduras for conferences (pre-Covid) and is there approximately 4-6 times/year.

• Two largest political parties in Honduras: Historically been the National and Liberal Parties. But since 2009, there is a third large party. These parties don’t really have platforms but individual candidates will talk about specific policies. Candidates don’t do debates like in the US.

• President Term Limits: There was up until early 2015. Term limits existed because of Article 239 (from the 1982 Constitution). In late 2014, a number of Congressional representatives from the National Party presented a motion to the Constitutional Chamber of Honduras (5 judges) claiming that Article 239 was unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution right to run for re-election. The court accepted the argument

  • In 2017, JOH’s term was set to expire but the term limits were removed in 2015.

• Extradition Treaty: The original 1912 extradition treaty was amended in 1928. It permitted extradition of Hondurans to the US.

  • The 1928 amendment prohibited extradition of Hondurans for political crimes or anything else.

  • In early 2012, the Honduran Congress amended the Constitution (of 1982) to include a clause referencing the 1928 amendment, which would then allow for Hondurans involved in drug trafficking to be extradited.

  • On January 18, 2012, Porfirio Lobo and State Department officials met in Miami. The day after that meeting, Lobo with support from JOH, the President of Congress convened Congress to propose new language that would involve extraditing Hondurans charged with drug trafficking.

  • The Supreme Court accepted the change in 2013 and then by the end of 2013/early 2014, the US submitted their first extradition request for a Honduran involved in drug trafficking.

• What Proceeded the Extradition Treaty: It was proceeded by two waves:

  • 1. An increase in violence: massacres, violence, and a citizen call to do something about it

  • 2. In Dec. 2011, Alfredo Landaverde was murdered. He was involved in drug policy and linked to General Julian Aristides Gonzalez who was murdered in December 2009. The murders of these men became the public face of the broader violence that was going on.

  • As a result of these two waves, there was pressure in Honduras to allow for extradition. There is no public information about who voted for extradition. Recently, there have been public statements from high-level authorities about the extradition treaty.

• Honduras More Generally: The median income is between $2500 to $3000 annually. In 2010, it was ~$2000/annually.

• Choloma: Has a population of approximately 200,000.

  • The city Choloma is located in the municipality of Choloma which includes an additional ~70,000 people. It's the 6th or 7th largest city in Honduras.

• Puerto Cortés: The location of the largest import/export port for goods coming from the US especially. Located on the Caribbean coast. The largest port in Central America.

• Honduran Police: The rank of Commissioner in the Honduran police is the highest rank. There are approximately 25 Commissioners.

• Leopoldo Crivelli: The mayor of Choloma. He was first elected in November 2005.

• FUSINA: An Inter-institutional Task Force created in approximately 2014. Responsible for investigating drug traffickers in Honduras and consists of members of the Armed Forces, National Police, representatives from the Attorney General’s office, and Ministries of Security and Defense.

• Leonel Sauceda: High-level police commissioner in Honduras. Promoted to Commissioner in 2018.

• Nelvin Sauceda Argueta: Brother of Leonel Sauceda on the father’s side. Sub-Commissioner of the police.

• Rafael Callejas Romero: President of Honduras from 1990 to 1994.

  • Known for many things. He was charged in 1994 with many counts of embezzlement, abuse of authority in Honduras and in 2015, charged by the US Department of Justice for racketeering and wire fraud. Never held accountable in Honduras.

• Graneros Nacionales: One of the largest Honduran importers of rice. Located in Choloma

• Fuad Jarufe: Owner of Graneros Nacionales.

• Rene Ponce Fonseca: In November 2017, named head of the Armed Forces by Juan Orlando Hernandez. Before that, he was head of FUSINA on the north coast of Honduras.  Before that, he was commander of the 105 Battalion in San Pedro Sula.

• President Manuel Zelaya: President of Honduras from 2006 to 2009.

• Ricardo Alvarez: Mayor of Tegucigalpa from 2006 to 2014. Part of the National party.

• Mauricio Oliva: President of the National Congress since 2014.

• Oscar Chinchilla: Attorney General since 2014. Not sure if he is a member of the National Party.

• Marlene Banegas: Worked in the Attorney General’s office. She was killed in October 2014. Coordinator of prosecutors.

DAY FOUR: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

Updated: April 16, 2022 to correct an error in the identity of the assassin known as ‘Vaquero’ who is believed to be Jorge Guifaro, not Bayron Argenis Martínez Lambour, who is another Honduran assassin with the nickname ‘Vaquero’.

What Happened Today:

• Confessed drug trafficker and government witness, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga continued to testify

Key Details That Surfaced:

• Rivera Maradiaga testified how Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) and others, kidnapped and brutally tortured the police officer that had raided and investigated GFR’s drug lab located in the department of Cortés. When the police had raided the lab, ‘Chepe’ Handal [drug trafficker José Miguel Handal Pérez, convicted in Honduras for money laundering] informed GFR beforehand about the raid.

• A former Honduran government treasurer during the Micheletti regime, ‘Javier Choloma’ [full name: Javier Hernandez Mejia, accused in Honduras for money laundering] was involved in coordinating a drug shipment(s) from Colombia along with Los Cachiros and GFR.

• GFR met with drug trafficker Juan Guzman, the cousin of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman (head of the Sinoloa cartel) in San Pedro Sula. GFR and Metro had sold at least three shipments of cocaine to Guzman.  

• Gang members were paid by Rivera Maradiaga to murder drug rivals including GFR’s business partner, ‘Metro’ [nickname for Melvin Sanders, deceased] and also traffic drugs. In at least one occasion, GFR provided the gang members and assassins with police and military police uniforms to murder his enemies. Many of the weapons that GFR used were provided by an active member of the Honduran military.

• Los Cachiros bribed President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) with $250,000 in approx. 2012. The money was given to JOH’s sister, Hilda Hernandez. Los Cachiros paid Manuel Zelaya in approx. 2016, $500,000 asking him to name their cousin as the Minister of Security. Also, Los Cachiros paid $500,000 to current Vice President Ricardo Alvarez, at the time he was campaigning to be President, and also paid $50,000 to Tony Hernandez (JOH’s brother).

• Rivera Maradiaga had encountered, unintentionally, GFR in a US prison where they, at one time, were both jailed. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that shortly before his arrest, JOH had tried to purchase GFR’s company for $13 million. GFR also told Rivera Maradiaga that in another occasion, GFR had met JOH and businessman Fuad Jarufe in a house in Choloma where GFR had attempted to bribe JOH with approx.. $18,000 in exchange to avoid being arrested.

What Will Happen Tomorrow:

• The cross examination of Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga will continue

• Another witness will be called

Photo from Pro-Honduras Network

More Details

Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (continued from yesterday)

The Police Raid of the Drug Lab & The Murder of Police Officer in Charge of the Investigation

• Approximately 3 or 4 months after the raid of the drug lab (mentioned yesterday), Metro [Melvin Sanders, later murdered] arranged a meeting with GFR at Cemcol (a business) in San Pedro Sula. GFR, Metro and their security were all armed. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that the drug lab had been raided but that Chepe Handal [a Honduran drug trafficker, sanctioned by the US and convicted in Honduras on money laundering] had told him that law enforcement was going to raid it. GFR removed the cocaine from the lab and law enforcement didn’t find any. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga this to continue to earn his trust and to remind Rivera Maradiaga of his contacts in law enforcement. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that the police continued to investigate the drug lab.

• GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that he had caught the police officer that was investigating the drug lab and carried out the operation. The police officer had been drinking one night in Metro’s nightclub in Choloma.

• GFR and others took the police officer to Ticamaya, a small town between San Pedro Sula and Choloma. They took him to a vacant place near the Ticamaya lagoon. He was tortured, beat him up, a plastic bread bag was put over his head like a hood. The police cried and asked them not to kill him because he had a small daughter. GFR and others put pins through his fingers and Metro told Rivera Maradiaga that GFR had hit him in the head and hands with his rifle. The police officer was shot in the head three times and killed.

• While being tortured, the police officer confessed that he was investigating GFR, Metro, and the owners of the property where the lab was located. The police officer said that the businessman who owned the property was not involved in the lab and had just rented the land. GFR was happy that Fuad Jarufe (the owner of the land) was not being investigated.

The Murder of Metro’s Brother

• In approx. 2012, Metro asked Rivera Maradiaga to help him investigate his brother’s murder. Metro said that his brother had been murdered because he had taken some cocaine on consignment and he hadn’t paid for it. Metro was using GFR’s police contacts to investigate. Rivera Maradiaga also investigated through his police contacts in San Pedro Sula but did not receive any information.

• Approx. 3-5 months later, GFR, Metro, Rivera Maradiaga, Metro’s security and a police officer, Juan Manuel Avila Meza [a former Honduran police officer waiting to be sentenced in the US on drug trafficking-related charges. Meza worked with Rivera Maradiaga to help traffic drugs coming in from Colombia headed to El Espíritu, Copan] met to discuss the assassins that had killed Metro’s brother.

• Shortly after, Metro found his brother’s killers. GFR, Metro and ex-police Avila Meza used their vehicles to surround the vehicle that the assassins were traveling in They were taken from their vehicle to the region of Naco, Cortés where they were tortured and killed. Metro’s brother’s assassins were tied up, beaten up, and GFR poured a container of gasoline on them and set them on fire.

• GFR later asked Rivera Maradiaga to help him pay $20,000 for the assassins and the police officer that had killed Metro’s brother. He did this as a way to continue to earn Rivera Maradiaga’s trust and to continue to work with him. Rivera Maradiaga paid between $20,000 to $40,000

One of GFR’s Boats He Used To Traffic Drugs

• GFR brought cocaine base by boat to Honduras. Rivera Maradiaga saw one of GFR’s boats parked at the ‘Encantilado Marine’ in Cortés department when Metro, women invited by Metro, GFR, the Rivera Maradiaga brothers, and their security met. Rivera Maradiaga also had a boat parked there, which he used to go fishing.

• GFR showed Rivera Maradiaga where the boat’s secret compartment were located. The boat had once belonged to Rivera Maradiaga but Javier Rivera Maradiaga had bought it from GFR. GFR then gave it to Rivera Maradiaga as a gift. But Rivera Maradiaga didn’t like how choppy it was when on the water, so he gave it to the Guatemala drug trafficker ‘Jack’ (who was mentioned in day three of the trial)

Airplanes Used to Traffic Drugs

• The plane that received the shipment of drugs on ‘El Compita’s’ landing strip [SHIPMENT #3, see yesterday’s notes] was registered in the US because it’s registration number began with ‘N’.

• The planes that Rivera Maradiaga and Guatemalan drug trafficker ‘Jack’ used to transport drugs were registered in the US.

Coordinating a Drug Shipment & Involvement of Honduran Government Treasurer

• In approx. 2013, GFR asked Rivera Maradiaga if he would loan him $1 million for a 2000 kilo shipment of cocaine coming from Colombia.

• Metro, the Rivera Maradiaga brothers, and GFR met in person along with ‘Javier Choloma’ [Full name: Javier Hernandez Mejía, the Honduran government Treasurer during the Micheletti regime, an administrator for Los Cachiros, and accused in Honduras for money laundering. As of 2018, he was in prison in Honduras]

• Rivera Maradiaga said he would think about lending him the money. He later spoke to Javier Hernandez Mejía who told him that GFR had squared up the details about receiving the drugs coming from Colombia in Puerto Cortés. GFR had made this arrangement with businessman Fuad Jarufe (see yesterday’s notes). Javier Hernandez Mejía told Rivera Maradiaga that he didn’t think he should invest in it.

• Javier Hernandez Mejía told Rivera Hernandez that Metro was considering transferring him the ownership rights of the Atletico Choloma soccer club because of the problems they were having over the drug lab. This occurred after the murder of the police officer involved in the investigation but the DLCN (Direccion de Lucha Contra el Narcotrafico). {Directorate for Fight Against Drug Trafficker, the Honduran equivalent of the DEA) from Tegucigalpa were after Metro and GFR.  Javier Hernandez Mejía knew about the murder of the investigative police from San Pedro Sula.

• At this time, the relationship between GFR and Rivera Maradiaga was not very good. GFR was mad that Rivera Maradiaga did not want to lend him $1 million.

Meeting with the Cousin of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman from the Sinaloa Cartel

• In approx.. 2013 in San Pedro Sula, Metro arranged a meeting with Juan Guzman (the cousin of El Chapo Guzman), Javier Hernandez Mejia (aka. Javier Choloma), one of GFR’s workers, Metro, and the Rivera Hernandez brothers. GFR and Metro sold several shipments of cocaine to Juan Guzman.

• The purpose of the meeting, according to Rivera Maradiaga, was because he was looking for a customer to buy cocaine he was selling.

• Juan Guzman said he had bought cocaine from GFR on 3 occasions. In the two shipments, GFR and Metro had sold him approx. 1000 kilos total. The third shipment was for 1600 kilos. On the third shipment, Juan Guzman said that various kilos of the cocaine were wet. This lowered the drug’s price. Guzman said the cocaine had been taken to Mexico.

‘Pluto’s’ Assassination & Plotting to Kill GFR’s Business Partner, Metro

• Rivera Maradiaga trafficked drugs with ‘Pluto’ [Edgar Rios, not much is known about him]. Pluto also worked with GFR but told Rivera Maradiaga that GFR wanted to kill him because he had given Pluto 100 kilos of cocaine on consignment. Pluto had given the drugs to another drug trafficker and they had refused to pay him because the 100 kilos of cocaine were wet. Pluto asked Rivera Maradiaga to talk to Metro and GFR so that they wouldn’t kill him.

• Soon after, Pluto was murdered. GFR had used the assassin ‘Vaquero’ [believed to be Jorge Guifaro] who worked with GFR to murder him. Hector Emilio [Hector Emilio Fernandez Rosa or “Don H”, jailed in the US on drug trafficking related charges] had told Pluto to meet with Rivera Maradiaga.

• Vaquero told Rivera Maradiaga that GFR and Metro had killed Pluto because Pluto didn’t want to pay GFR for the 100 kilos of cocaine.

• Vaquero told Rivera Maradiaga that Metro and GFR were trying to kill him and his brother because he didn’t lend GFR $1 million.

• Vaquero killed Metro upon orders from Rivera Maradiaga. He used gang members and went into Metro’s house dressed in uniforms of the Honduran Preventative police and military police that GFR had given him {at a different moment]. Many of the weapons that GFR used were provided by someone inside the Honduran military.

• GFR’s killing was also ordered but when assassins including Vaquero and gang members had gone into GFR’s house to murder him, 25-30 heavily armed men were inside GFR’s house waiting for them. The men fired at the gang members (assassins) and they were unable to kill GFR. Three assassins were injured in the attack.

• GFR later contacted Rivera Maradiaga and they both agreed to avoid further problems with one another.

Bribing President Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President Manuel Zelaya and Vice President Ricardo Alvarez

• Los Cachiros bribed Juan Orlando Hernandez in approx. 2012 with $250,000. The money was delivered in cash to JOH’s sister, Hilda Hernandez [died in 2017 in a suspicious helicopter accident. Hilda Hernandez has been named in several corruption cases involving the embezzlement of public funds amongst other charges]. In exchange, Rivera Maradiaga expected to be protected, not extradited, and to continue receiving contracts from the government for money laundering purposes.

• Rivera Hernandez met with Tony Hernandez [JOH’s brother, waiting to be sentenced in the US]. in 2014. Tony Hernandez promised to pay contracts to INRIMAR. Rivera Hernandez gave him $50,000 in cash in Tegucigalpa in a Denny’s restaurant.

• Los Cachiros bribed Juan Manuel Zelaya Rosales in 2006. They paid him $500,000 and Zelaya agreed to put one of Rivera Maradiaga’s cousins as Minister of Security but this did not happen when Zelaya took office.

• In approx. 2012, Los Cachiros paid $500,000 to Ricardo Alvarez [current Vice President, member of the National Party] when he was running for President. Alvarez promised that he would not extradite Los Cachiros to the US. Alvarez promised to keep giving them contracts to their front companies and to eliminate the extradition law between Honduras and the US. Alvarez did not win the elections.

Los Cachiros Begin to Cooperate With the DEA

• Shortly after the attempt to murder GFR, Rivera Maradiaga began speaking with the DEA

• The Rivera Maradiagas were sanction by OFAC (U.S. Office for Foreign Assets Control) and various of their companies used to launder drug money.

• Once listed by OFAC, they stopped trafficking drugs. Los Cachiros were worried.

• In approx. 2015, Rivera Maradiaga was charged. He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years. He pleaded guilty to 5 charges.

• Rivera Maradiaga hopes to get a 5K1 letter that will be given to a judge which outlines the charges he has pleaded guilty to and his cooperation with the government. The judge will impose the sentence

Rivera Maradiaga Runs Into GFR In Prison … Twice

• Rivera Maradiaga went into the jail’s (unknown exactly where) shower area inside the unit where GFR was housed. He did not expect to see GFR. When GFR saw him, they greeted one another, said some prayers together, and GFR began crying. He started cursing President JOH because he blamed JOH for his imprisonment.

• Right before his arrest, GFR said that he had met with Police Commissioner Martinez and a military officer from the Honduran Armed Forces that had been sent by JOH. The military officer told GFR that JOH wanted GFR to sell him the money laundering company he had and that JOH would pay him $13 million for it.

• GFR also said that he had met JOH in a house in Choloma, along with business man Fuad Jarufe. GFR had given JOH 450,000 Lempiras [~18,000 USD]. In a second meeting with both JOH and Fuad Jarufe, GFR and Jarufe travelled to Tegucigalpa to give JOH another bribe. GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that he hoped JOH would protect him and that he wouldn’t be arrested in Honduras.

Cross Examination by the Defense (This will continue tomorrow)

• The defense asked several questions to establish that Rivera Maradiaga was a murderer and to make him look bad. They pointed out that Rivera Maradiaga could easily recall details when asked questions by the prosecutors but not when asked by the defense.

• Rivera Maradiaga confessed that the murder of journalist Anibal Barrow had been an error and that Barrow was mistaken for another person.

• The defense asked several questions about Rivera Maradiaga’s role in the murder of two Honduran counternarcotics law enforcement: General Aristides Gonzalez and Alfredo Landaverde.

DAY THREE: Trial Against Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

What Happened Today:

• Testimonies from DEA Special Agent Brian Fairbanks (continued on from yesterday) and DEA Special Agent Greg Mervis

• Witness Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga began to testify for the government

Key Details That Surfaced:

• Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) worked with Los Cachiros cartel to transport and provide security for several shipments of cocaine from eastern Honduras to western town of El Espíritu, Copan. He also received drug shipments in coordination with drug traffickers and Honduran National Police near the Ulúa river in Progreso, Yoro.

• GFR had several contacts in the Cortés Department inside the Honduran National Police. When an individual working with the Cachiros cartel leader, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (now a government witness) was arrested during a drug shipment, GFR called the mayor of the northern city of Choloma Leopoldo Civelli, nicknamed ‘Polo’ [now running as a pre-candidate for Congress for the Liberal Party under Yani Rosenthal’s stream. Civelli has also been accused of fraud, falsifying documents, amongst other charges]. Mayor Civelli called the police and had the worker released.

• Los Cachiros drug cartel leader, Rivera Maradiaga was told that GFR could kill anyone that Rivera Maradiaga wanted. To gain his trust, GFR kidnapped a boat driver that had been making fun of Rivera Maradiaga, and took him to the Guatemala-Honduras border and killed him.

What Will Happen Tomorrow:

• Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga will continue on the stand

• It’s possible that another witness may be called if Rivera Maradiaga finishes testifying

Photo: Pro-Honduras Network. From left to right - Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (top), Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (bottom), Leopoldo Crivelli (center), and Juan Orlando Hernandez (right)

More Details

Special Agent Fairbanks Continues From Yesterday (Cross-examination)

• Agent Fairbanks did not investigate why Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) was visiting the US and later, was arrested in Miami. According to the defense, GFR was in the US selling wood shims to US companies in Florida and GFR’s son has a granite business.

• Agent Fairbanks never spoke to ‘Comanche’ (mentioned yesterday in the chats found on GFR’s cell phone)

• The defense attempted to poke holes in Agent Fairbanks’ witness testimony from yesterday. The agent was unable to say who was holding the guns in the pictures presented yesterday by the government; and was unable to confirm whether GFR had actual contact with any of the military and police contacts in GFR’s phone except with Police Commissioner Martinez. 

DEA Special Agent Gregg Mervis (Government Witness):

• Agent Mervis is a DEA Staff Coordinator. He began working with the DEA in 1997, first as a linguist translating English to Spanish. He then attended the DEA Special Academy in 1998 and underwent 4 months of training (in surveillance, wire taps, legal training, confidential source management, complex conspiracy training, etc) to become a Special Agent. He was later stationed in Imperial County, California for 6 years investigating narcotics shipments from Mexico into California then stationed in Venezuela. He worked on a DEA Latin America team from March 2014 to the summer of 2015 and investigated narcotics trafficking in Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. He left that job in 2015 and went to work with the Special Operations Unit in the US.

How Is Cocaine Produced?

• Colombia is the greatest producer of cocaine - 90% of the cocaine produced in Colombia makes it to the US. It’s primarily produced in labs. It’s processed using the coca leaf, chemicals, a heating process, and other steps involving the application of chemicals and drying before it is pressed into bricks weighing approximately 1 kilogram (approx. 2.2 lbs or 8,000 doses of cocaine)

How is Cocaine Transported?

• Cocaine usually isn’t sent directly to the United States. It generally moves from Colombia to Venezuela then passes through the “Central American route” via air to the eastern part of Honduras, then onto western Guatemala into Mexico and finally, the United States.

• The “Central America” route is the primary route. This route emerged in the early 2000s which occurred because the US started to work with the Colombian government that began to extradite drug traffickers. The new route provided a buffer or an additional layer of protection for drug traffickers from law enforcement.

• The cocaine can be sent via sailing route or “go-fast” vessel - a speed boat modified with extra motors. These go-fast vessels move faster, are smaller, and are less likely to be detected. Cocaine is also sent by air in small aircraft.

• Cocaine usually leaves from the Apure area of Venezuela from clandestine landing strips. It lands in Honduras before going into Guatemala. In Honduras, cocaine is often transported in livestock trailers connected to tractor trailers that are frequently used in remote areas in the country.

• From 2009 to 2020: The Sinaloa cartel was the largest cartel in Mexico. “El Chapo” Guzman was the leader of the cartel.

Cocaine Value Shifts As It Travels North

• There is not a huge consumer market for cocaine in the countries that cocaine passes through. Honduras has a small population of approx. nine million people

• Cocaine prices per country/region per kilogram:

  • Colombia: Approx. $2500 to $3000

  • Honduras: Approx. $7500 to $9000

  • Mexico (near Guatemala): Approx. $12,000 to $16,000

  • US (pre-Covid-19): Approx. $30,000 to $35,000

  • New York (pre-Covid-19): Approx. $30,000

• Cocaine prices were lower in 2009.

Strategies Used to Target Drug Traffickers

• OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control): This allows the US government to sanction drug traffickers. Usually a press release is published on the OFAC website. The idea is to warn the drug traffickers they have been sanctioned but also any businesses that do business with them. 

• The DEA cannot ask Honduran banks to seize assets. The DEA cannot arrest anyone or seize assets in Honduras. 

• Airplanes are registered by country. US registered planes have numbers that begin with ‘N’ and are registered by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).

Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga (Government Witness)

• Rivera Maradiaga is from Honduras. He was not extradited by the Honduran government and instead handed himself over to the US in 2015. He was a drug trafficker in Honduras located in the Colon region and part of the ‘Los Cachiros’ drug cartel along with his brother, Javier Rivera Maradiaga. He stopped trafficking drugs in 2013 when he began to work with the DEA. Rivera Maradiaga estimates that he trafficked approx. 100 tonnes of cocaine during his drug trafficking years.

• Rivera Maradiaga plead guilty in the US to conspiracy to traffic drugs, money laundering, possession of military weapons, homicide, and being the head of a drug trafficking organization. The guilty plea was made under a cooperation agreement. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life plus 30 years.

How Rivera Maradiaga Got Into the Drug Business

• He started trafficking small amounts of drugs (approx. 1 kilo of cocaine) in 2002. By 2009, the Rivera Maradiaga brothers received boats of cocaine coming from Colombia and Venezuela. They received the boats and transported the cocaine to other parts of Honduras.

• The cocaine would arrive to: Gracias a Dios [department] and Sico Valley region. Sometimes to Cortés and taken by car to El Espíritu and later, delivered to buyers in Guatemala.

• Approximately 2000 kilos would arrive in a large planes and 400-600 kilos in small planes. Approx. 1500 to 3500 kilos of cocaine were trafficked in small boats.

His Drug Business

• The Cachiros used drug money to pay politicians, the Preventative National Police, the Honduran miltiary and members of the MS13 gang to help them escort and protect the cocaine across Honduras.

• Their drug profits were laundered through front companies that were given contracts from the government including to their company Inmobiliarias Rivera Maradiaga (INRIMAR). They formed an agricultural company to plant ricee and other products and then sold the products to launder drug money. They also had a livestock company to sell cattle to meat packing companies to also launder drug money.

• Rivera Maradiaga used AK47s, AR-15s, grenade launchers, pistols, RPG-7s, and semi-automatic rifles with converting switches to traffic drugs

How He Met Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR)

• Rivera Maradiaga met GFR in approximately 2009 -2010. They later had a drug trafficking arrangement together in approximately 2011 to 2013. GFR assisted Rivera Maradiaga by escorting shipments of drugs from Department of Colon to El Espíritu, Copan [close to the Guatemala border and the major drug operation location and home of the Valle Valle cartel headed by the Valle brothers - Luis and Arnulfo Valle. Both are now in prison in the US].

• Their relationship ended when an argument that arose between GFR and Rivera Maradiaga. The Rivera Maradiaga brothers found out that GFR and his business partner wanted to kill them.

• Rivera Maradiaga was introduced to GFRs by Melvin Sanders [later murdered. Sanders was the ex-President of Atlético Choloma, a local soccer team in Choloma, Cortés]. Melvin Sanders was nicknamed “El Metro” because of his close relationship with the Honduran Metropolitan Police. Rivera Maradiaga met “El Metro” through Rubén Santos [ex-police officer and family member of the Rivera Maradiaga] who worked with Los Cachiros. Metro started to work with Los Cachiros in 2003. 

• Metro told Rivera Maradiaga that GFR sold drugs in Miami and that he wanted to work with Rivera Maradiaga to help him transport drugs. 

Specific Meetings with GFR (Who, What Guns Were Present, What Was Discussed, etc)

• MEETING ONE: Rivera Maradiaga first met GFR in the northern city of Omoa, Cortés in a gas station owned by Rivera Maradiaga called ‘Brisas del Mar.’ They met inside a car in the parking lot. All men were heavily armed (GFR was armed with a semi-automatic pistol, a Glock, and 2 sawed-off AR-15s; Metro was armed with a semi-automatic pistol, and a gold 92X; Rivera Maradiaga armed with 9 mm and 93R)

  • In this meeting, GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that he had contacts in the police and military and he could help transport cocaine. Rivera Maradiaga understood this to mean that GFR worked with the police. 

• GFR asked Rivera Maradiaga to be a partner in the drug lab that belonged to GFR. GFR told him that he and Metro [Melvin Sanders, later murdered by Rivera Maradiaga] had been working in the drug lab for two months and he had 20-30 armed people securing the lab. They were armed with AR15, AK47s, grenade launchers, and were dressed in police and military uniforms.

• MEETING TWO: In ‘Torres Servicio’ mechanical workshop in San Pedro Sula where Rivera Maradiaga expressed interest in GFR’s police contacts. 

• MEETING THREE: Approx. 3 to 6 months following meeting two. They met in a dance club in Choloma that was owned by Metro. Rivera Maradiaga was told that Metro was having a party and that GFR wanted to speak with him. 

  • GFR, Metro and their security team, and Rivera Maradiaga and his security were at the meeting. 

  • They were all armed (R15s, 9 mm, and Rivera Maradiaga’s body guards had a grenade launcher on the first level of the dance club)

  • They discussed a boat mechanic that GFR claimed had been making fun of Rivera Maradiaga. The boat mechanic owned Rivera Maradiaga approx. $40,000 that Rivera Maradiaga had given him to buy two engines for a boat that was in repair. GFR had called a police official who was a friend of GFR and asked him to stop the mechanic at a police checkpoint. The mechanic was detained at a checkpoint and GFR took him close to the Corinto border [Guatemala-Honduras border]. GFR tortured him, cut off his finger, beat him in the face, and then shot him twice in the head. GFR showed Rivera Maradiaga a picture of the dead boat mechanic. Rivera Maradiaga never asked GFR to kill the man but he understood that GFR was trying to gain his trust so that he would give GFR work moving cocaine. 

  • In the same meeting, Metro told Rivera Maradiaga that it was good to have GFR on their side. 

GFR’s Relationship with the Honduran Police & the Current Mayor of Choloma, Leopoldo Crivelli

• GFR had contacts with the police who he could call to get police checkpoints along the road taken down so that drug shipments could move freely. 

• Rivera Maradiaga met with Metro in the ‘Torres Servicio’ mechanic workshop in San Pedro Sula to discuss GFR’s contacts with the Honduran police. Rivera Maradaga was told that GFR had various contacts with the National Police in San Pedro Sula that worked with drug trafficker ‘Paico’ and that were also working with GFR. Metro mentioned the names of the police: Colonel Motiño; Police Commissioner Martinez [a high-level officer in the Honduran National police]; Official Nuila; Official Roja. 

• These police officers would work with Rivera Maradiaga, Metro, and GFR to escort cocaine shipments and do anything else that was needed.

• The police contacts used by the drug traffickers were located in all parts of Honduras.

• During drug shipment #3 (see below), one of Rivera Maradiaga’s workers was arrested on the highway while heavily armed as a drug shipment was underway. He was arrested by a grou pof Honduran police in a patrol vehicle

  • In response, GFR called Police Commissioner Martinez to ask him to call the official that arrested him, to have him released. He didn’t answer

  • Then GFR called “Polo” Crivelli or Leopoldo Crivelli [the current mayor of Choloma, and a pre-candidate for Congress for the Liberal Party] to ask the official to release the man. The worker was released and was given his weapon back. 

• The mayor of Choloma, Leopoldo Crivelli, would also give GFR information about when the Direccion de Lucha Contra el Narcotrafico (DLCN, The Directorate for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking, the Honduran equivalent of the DEA] was coming from Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula to conduct operations in Choloma. With this information, GFR was able to move any weapons from his house so he wouldn’t have a problem if they raided it. 

The Drug Lab Investments

• GFR asked Rivera Maradiaga to invest between $300,000 to $500,000 to help bring cocaine base [an ingredient of cocaine] from Colombia to use in the drug lab. Rivera Maradiaga told GFR that he would think about it but that he wasn’t interested because it was an additional risk getting the cocaine base into the country because it could be seized. Buying the base didn’t make sense as Rivera Maradiaga only imported finished cocaine. In that same first meeting when the drug lab investment was discussed, Rivera Maradiaga purchased two cars from GFR to ‘help him out’. The cars were valued at $20,000/each but Rivera Maradiaga paid him ~$70,000 in US dollars in $20 bills. 

• GFR, Metro and Rivera Maradiaga had other conversations about the drug lab investment in other meetings in San Pedro Sula at a mechanic workshop called ‘Torres Servicio.’ Rivera Maradiaga met with other drug traffickers in that workshop that was the location where special compartments sometimes with false bottoms (known as ‘calletas’) were added to vehicles (cars, trucks, crates, etc) to transport drugs.

Police Began to Investigate The Drug Lab

• At an unspecified date, Metro arranged another meeting with Rivera Maradiaga to discuss the drug lab located in the hills in the Cortés department. They met in Cemcol (a business) in San Pedro Sula where GFR told Rivera Maradiaga that he was worried that the police in San Pedro Sula were investigating the lab that was located on the property of a local business man named Fuad Jarufe [see yesterday for more information on Jarufe]. 

• GFR had learned of the investigation through the Choloma mayor’s son, ‘Polito Crivelli’ and that he had met with another drug trafficker, “Chepe” Handal [full name: Jose Miguel Handal Perez, sanctioned by the US, convicted in Honduras of money laundering]  who said he would handle the police who were investigating the drug lab. Handal also said he would partner with GFR.

• GFR asked Rivera Maradiaga to investigate through his police contacts about the police lab investigation as well. Rivera Maradiaga called his contact in the Investigative police, Carlos Valladares. Valladares said he would look into it. Rivera Maradiaga later found out that the lab had been raided (testimony ends there and will be continued tomorrow)

Receiving Drug Shipments

• Metro [Melvin Sanders, now deceased] said that the National police worked with drug trafficker “Paico” in San Pedro Sula and GFR, to receive cocaine shipments near the Ulúa river in El Progreso, Yoro. 

• GFR lived in the department of Cortés and Rivera Maradiaga wanted to work with GFR because of his police contacts in Cortés. Each drug trafficker respected each department where each cartel was located. Rivera Maradiaga had been told about GFR from another drug trafficker located in Francia, Colon as well. 

• Drug shipments were received in various parts of the country. According to Rivera Maradiaga, the shipments arrived to the departments of Cortés, Gracias a Dios, Yoro, areas in Santa Rosa de Copan [department of Copan] including in El Espíritu, Copan;  San Esteban, Olancho; among others. 

• DRUG SHIPMENT #1: [NOTE: The Prosecutors went into extreme detail outlining at least three major drug shipments that GFR was involved in. They used these examples to show the quantities of cocaine that were trafficked, the weapons that were used to move the cocaine; and where the cocaine was sent to]. In 2011, Rivera Maradiaga contacted GFR through Metro to tell him that cocaine was coming from Venezuela and to let GFR know so he could escort the load. This would be GFR’s first job with Rivera Maradiaga

  • The drug plane carrying approx. 425 to 530 kilos of cocaine landed in the Sico Valley in the department of Colon, was brought to a finca [a ranch] in the village of El Tigre in the department of Colon. It was then taken to El Espíritu, Copan. 

  • The cocaine was then taken to the ranch in El Tigre. Rivera Maradiaga met GFR, Metro, the truck driver, Metro’s security, and a Colombian [“Yuco”] in charge of loading the cocaine. The Colombian worked with Renteria [a Colombian drug trafficker]. 

  • All men were armed (GFR: An AR-15, a green Glock with a selector switch; Metro: A grenade launcher and a gold handgun; Rivera Maradaiga: AR15 and a 93R; both security teams were also armed). GFR was also carrying a small grenade launcher referred to as “El Moñito” or “The Monkey” to help protect the drugs. 

  • Metro brought a car with secret compartments that were filled with weapons in order to provide security for the drug shipment. The cocaine was counted in the finca and put into secret compartments inside the NPR (type of truck which are usually approx. 12 feet long). GFR had three or four additional vehicles for security and he said he would ride behind the truck. If he ran into a police checkpoint, he would call his contacts, specifically Police Commissioner Martinez to get the police to remove the checkpoint. 

  • The shipment was delivered to the Valle Valle brothers (Luis and Arnulfo Valle) in El Espíritu, Copan in their finca [ranch] and Rivera Maradiaga confirmed the Valles had received it. Rivera Maradiaga paid Metro and GFR approx. $60,000 to $70,000 in person for this shipment.

• DRUG SHIPMENT #2: Occurred approx. 3-4 months after shipment #2. Rivera Maradiaga contacted GFR through Metro asking him to come to Tocoa to receive another shipment.

  • The drug plane was carrying approximately 500 to 700 kilos of cocaine.

  • It arrived in San Esteban, Olancho, to a clandestine airstrip controlled by Fredy Nájera [a former Congressional representative who pleaded guilty in the US. Riviera Maradiaga trafficked drugs with Fredy Nájera]. The cocaine was sold to Rivera Maradiaga by Rafael Sierra, one of the Renteria cartel leaders. The cocaine was then sold to the Valle Valle brothers and delivered to them in El Espíritu, Copan. 

  • Upon arrival, the drugs were taken to a ranch in Zamoro, Colon. GFR, Metro, the truck driver, and the Renteria Colombian man (“Yuca”) was there. The drugs were taken to El Espíritu, Copan to the Valle brothers. 

  • Rivera Maradiaga paid GFR in cash and delivered the money to them in person. Rivera Maradiaga met them in the same mechanic workshop in San Pedro Sula. 

• DRUG SHIPMENT #3: In 2012, another plane with cocaine was coming in from Colombia and Rivera Maradiaga wanted GFR to receive it. 

  • The plane was carrying approx. 425 to 500 kilos of cocaine and was arriving at a clandestine landing strip by the river in Baracoa, Cortés in an area known as ‘Tapon de los Ojos’ that was under GFR’s control but was owned by ‘Compita’. The drugs were being received for ‘Jack’, a Guatemalan drug trafficker who was then going to sell it to Mexicans that were going to sell it in the US. 

  • The plane landed on the strip and GFR transported it by truck to the Valle brothers in El Espíritu, Copan who then delivered it to ‘Jack.’ Jack paid Rivera Maradiaga 10% of the cocaine. He then used the cocaine to pay GFR and Metro. They were then going to sell it. 

The Drug Plane Business

• Rivera Maradiaga worked with the Guatemalan drug trafficker ‘Jack’ as partners in an airplane business. Jack bought planes from the US. He would pay $500,000 and Rivera Maradiaga would pay the other half ($500,000). They would then send the planes to Venezuela where various drug traffickers would load them with cocaine. Once the planes with cocaine got to Honduras, ‘Jack’ and Rivera Maradiaga would split it into equal portions. 

• Other drug traffickers used the same planes to traffic drugs to the US as did the Colombian Renterias.