Editing Honduras (section)

=== Crime ===
{{Main|Crime in Honduras}}

Crime in Honduras is rampant and criminals operate with a high degree of impunity. Honduras has one of the highest national murder rates in the world; cities such as [[San Pedro Sula]] and the [[Tegucigalpa]] likewise have registered homicide rates among the highest in the world. The violence is associated with [[Illegal drug trade|drug trafficking]] as Honduras is often a transit point, and with a number of urban gangs, mainly the [[MS-13]] and the [[18th Street gang]]. Homicide violence reached a peak in 2012 with an average of 20 homicides a day.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hansen-Nord |first1=Nete Sloth |last2=Skar |first2=Mette |last3=Kjaerulf |first3=Finn |last4=Almendarez |first4=Juan |last5=Bähr |first5=Sergio |last6=Sosa |first6=Óscar |last7=Castro |first7=Julio |last8=Andersen |first8=Anne-Marie Nybo |last9=Modvig |first9=Jens |year=2014 |title=Social capital and violence in poor urban areas of Honduras |journal=Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=643–648 |doi=10.1016/j.avb.2014.09.013}}</ref> Official statistics from the Honduran Observatory on National Violence show Honduras's homicide rate was 60 per 100,000 in 2015 with the majority of homicide cases unprosecuted.<ref name="Travel Warnings">{{cite web|title=Honduras Travel Warning|url=https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html|website=Travel.State.Gov|publisher=U.S. State Department|access-date=17 August 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817232455/https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html|archive-date=17 August 2016}}</ref> But as recently as 2017, organizations such as InSight Crime's show figures of 42 per 100,000 inhabitants,<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 January 2018 |title=InSight Crime's 2017 Homicide Round-Up |language=en-US |work=InSight Crime |url=https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/2017-homicide-round-up/ |access-date=3 July 2018 |archive-date=14 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614030720/https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/2017-homicide-round-up/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a 26% drop from 2016 figures.

Highway assaults and carjackings at roadblocks or checkpoints set up by criminals with police uniforms and equipment occur frequently. Although reports of kidnappings of foreigners are not common, families of kidnapping victims often pay ransoms without reporting the crime to police out of fear of retribution, so kidnapping figures may be underreported.<ref name="Travel Warnings"/>

Violence in Honduras increased after [[Plan Colombia]] was implemented and after [[President of Mexico|Mexican President]] [[Felipe Calderón]] declared the war against drug trafficking in Mexico.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2015 |title=Why is Honduras so violent |url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/why-is-honduras-so-violent |website=Insight Crime |access-date=8 March 2020 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113003826/http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/why-is-honduras-so-violent |url-status=live }}</ref> Along with neighboring [[El Salvador]] and [[Guatemala]], Honduras forms part of the [[Northern Triangle of Central America]], which has been characterized as one of the most violent regions in the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Varela |first=Amarela |date=November 2015 |title="Buscando una vida vivible": la migración forzada de niños de Centroamérica como práctica de fuga de la "muerte en vida" |journal=El Cotidiano |language=Spanish |volume=30 |issue=194 |pages=19–29 |id={{ProQuest|1758892592}}}}</ref> As a result of crime and increasing murder rates, the flow of migrants from Honduras to the U.S. also went up. The rise in violence in the region has received international attention.

[[Roatán]] and the other [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]] have lower crime rates than the Honduran mainland. This has been attributed to measures taken by government and business in 2014 to improve tourist safety.<ref name="Travel Warnings" />

In the less populated region of [[Gracias a Dios Department|Gracias a Dios]], narcotics-trafficking is rampant and police presence is scarce. Threats against U.S. citizens by drug traffickers and other criminal organizations have resulted in the U.S. Embassy placing restrictions on the travel of U.S. officials through the region.<ref name="Travel Warnings"/>