According to the indictment drawn up against her, the arrested woman, along with her two sons, were the leaders of the “Los Montes” cartel, one of the strongest in Honduras, and are responsible for “trafficking many tons of cocaine to the USA”.
Honduran authorities on Tuesday extradited alleged cartel boss Erlinda Bombadilla to the United States, 61, accused of drug trafficking and arrested in May during a police operation that killed one of her sons.
According to the indictment drawn up against her by a court in the Eastern District of Virginia, Mrs. Bobadilla, also known as “Chida”, together with her two sons, led the “Los Montes” cartel, one of the most powerful in Honduras, and are responsible for “trafficking several tons of cocaine to the US”, worth “millions of dollars”.
The matriarch of the family was arrested, along with three other persons, in the mountainous province of Colón (northeast), during a special operation in which her son Tito Montes was killed. Another of her sons, Juan Carlos Montes Bobadilla, escaped and is wanted.
The mother and son trio took control of the Los Montes cartel after another of Ms Bobadilla’s sons, Noe Montes Bobadilla, was arrested in 2017 and extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to 37 years in prison for drug trafficking.
Honduras is a hub for the trafficking of cocaine from Colombia and other drugs destined mainly for the North American market.
US authorities offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of the trio.
In April, Honduras extradited the country’s former president Juan Orlando Hernandez to the US to stand trial for trafficking massive amounts of cocaine. He pleaded not guilty before a judge. The development came a year and a half after his brother “Tony” Hernandez, a former congressman, was sentenced by a New York court to life in prison, mostly for drug trafficking.
On May 10, former Chief of Police (2012-2013) Juan Carlos “El Tigre” Bonilla was also extradited to the US, where he faces charges of drug trafficking on behalf of former President Hernandez.
In total, authorities in the Central American state have proceeded to extradite more than 30 citizens of the country to the US to stand trial for drug trafficking.
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