The police assigned to the Dipampco allegedly demanded between 100,000 and 300,000 lempiras to release the people who fell into their network.
At an initial hearing, a judge of letters with national jurisdiction has recently issued a formal indictment and pretrial detention against five members of the Anti-Maras Police Directorate and Organized Crime (Dipampco), accused of aggravated kidnapping and other sexual assaults.
The agents involved are Osmin Orellana Paz, Lester Nahún Uclés Andino, Andy José Pérez Zelaya, Dilmer Stiven Fúnez Espinoza and Enrry Michael Cárcamo Molina, who were arrested on 17 April in San Pedro Sula, Cortés, in northern Honduras.
According to the judicial authorities, the accused will serve pretrial detention, for a legal period of two years, in the prison of El Progreso, municipality of the department of Yoro.
According to the proceedings of the National Anti-kidnapping Unit of the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI), the modus operandi of these police officers was to call people pretending to be known.
Once contacted, the victims were climbed into vehicles in the Dipampco and driven through several streets of San Pedro Sula until they paid a ransom ranging from 100,000 to 300 thousand lempiras.
If the offended people did not pay the amount required, the police threatened to put drugs on them to bring them false accusations.
DPI research also indicates that if the victims were women, officers threatened to abuse them.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in Tunota