The U.S. indicted six Honduran police officers Wednesday for allegedly conspiring with the son of former President Porfirio Lobo to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
The six officers, who have not yet been arrested, are accused of accepting $1 million in bribes from two undercover officers posing as Mexican drug lords.
Officials say they promised to give the drugs safe passage through Honduras in exchange for the bribes.
Fabio Lobo, son of the former president, introduced the officers to the two purported drug lords. He was arrested in 2015 and pleaded guilty last month.
The government of current Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has declared police corruption a national emergency and set up a special investigative committee.
Omar Rivera, a member of a special Honduran commission with authority to investigate police corruption, welcomed the indictments.
"Police who dedicate themselves to protecting drug traffickers, who dedicate themselves to the drug trade, aren't police but criminals and they should be treated as such," he said, adding that U.S. collaboration is "fundamental" to resolving these cases.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
