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DEA Says Hondurans Opened Fire During a Drug Raid. Video Suggests Otherwise.
Monday, 23 October 2017 13:25

Schwartz writes: "The release of the video, under a Freedom of Information Act request, follows a scathing report published by the inspectors general of the departments of Justice and State earlier this year that challenged the D.E.A.'s version of events."

Honduran navy officers patrol in Ahuas, Honduras, in 2012. (photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP)
Honduran navy officers patrol in Ahuas, Honduras, in 2012. (photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP)


DEA Says Hondurans Opened Fire During a Drug Raid. Video Suggests Otherwise.

By Mattathias Schwartz, The New York Times

23 October 17

 

he Drug Enforcement Administration has for five years steadfastly defended the behavior of its agents in a late-night drug seizure carried out with Honduran forces on the remote Mosquito Coast, a mission that resulted in the deaths of four Honduran civilians.

In the D.E.A.’s view, the dead — one man, two women and a 14-year-old boy — were among those on a boat that shot at a canoe carrying a joint D.E.A.-Honduran antidrug team. The D.E.A. said it had evidence in the form of night-vision video taken from a surveillance plane showing an “exchange of gunfire” between the two vessels after the larger boat collided with the canoe carrying the agents.

Now, for the first time, the three-hour video has been released to the public. It strongly suggests that the D.E.A.’s account of crossfire in the May 2012 mission was not accurate. The release of the video, under a Freedom of Information Act request, follows a scathing report published by the inspectors general of the departments of Justice and State earlier this year that challenged the D.E.A.’s version of events.


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