Victims caught in Honduras drugs crossfire

Stephen Sackur joins a navy patrol crew in Honduras trying to stop the smuggling of cocaine to the United States. Honduras is in the grip of a drugs war with US drug enforcement agents helping local forces fight organised gangs, who traffic tons of cocaine destined for the United States, as HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur reports. The deep bullet wound in Hilda Lezama's thigh is a livid pointer to Honduras's unwanted status as a new frontline in America's war on drugs.  My son-in-law was killed, two of my neighbours were killed, and I was wounded, so where are the Americans? Don't you think they should talk to me?  Hilda Lezama For all of her 53 years, Hilda Lezama has lived in Ahuas, a settlement of wooden homes built on stilts, close to the fast-flowing Patuca river in the remote Mosquitia region of eastern Honduras. She was shot in a joint Honduran-US counter-narcotics raid on a riverboat two months ago. Four other local people, including two local women, were killed in the airborne attack which involved US drug enforcement agents and Honduran police. "We were returning from a trip down-river with the fishermen," Hilda recalled. "We travelled at night to avoid the heat. We heard the helicopters above us, but we couldn't see them. "They could have let us dock and then searched the boat, but instead they shot us. Maybe they were thinking we were someone else." US officials said Hilda's boat was part of a drug-smuggling operation that involved a stash of drugs flown into an airstrip close to the Patuca river, a charge she categorically denies. "If we were criminals we could not complain, but we are innocent working people," she insisted. Lethal force The Americans said none of their agents opened fire. According to the US Ambassador in Honduras, Lisa Kubiske, a preliminary investigation by the Honduran authorities suggested "no wrong doing". The only way out of Ahuas is by boat on the Patuca river That proposition may be tested in the Honduran courts. A human rights group, the Committee of the Relatives of the Disappeared has filed a legal complaint against the Honduran and US governments citing violations of human rights. The Ahuas raid was no isolated incident. Within the last month, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents have shot dead two suspected traffickers in separate raids in eastern Honduras - the first use of lethal force by US DEA agents in Central America. The increasingly aggressive anti-trafficking strategy - codenamed Operation Anvil - is aimed at intercepting illegal drugs flown in to the sparsely populated Mosquitia region from South America. More than 80% of the cocaine entering the United States is now thought to be trans-shipped through Honduras. The US has long had a military presence at the Palmerola base in central Honduras. What was once a key asset in the war against the Sandinistas in neighbouring Nicaragua is now focused on the war on drugs.

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Beware of missed call to check SIM cloning

Next time if you get a missed call starting with +92; #90 or #09, don't show the courtesy of calling back because chances are it would lead to your SIM card being cloned. The telecom service providers are now issuing alerts to subscribers —particularly about the series mentioned above as the moment one press the call button after dialing the above number, someone at the other end will get your phone and SIM card cloned. According to reports, more than one lakh subscribers have fallen prey to this new telecom terror attack as the frequency of such calls continues to grow. Intelligence agencies have reportedly confirmed to the service providers particularly in UP West telecom division that such a racket is not only under way but the menace is growing fast. "We are sure there must be some more similar combinations that the miscreants are using to clone the handsets and all the information stored in them," an intelligence officer told TOI. General Manager (GM) BSNL, RV Verma, said the department had already issued alerts to all the broadband subscribers and now alert SMSes were being issued to other subscribers as well. As per Rakshit Tandon, an IT expert who also teaches at the police academy (UP), the crooks can use other combination of numbers as well while making a call. "It is better not to respond to calls received from unusual calling numbers," says Tandon. "At the same time one should avoid storing specifics of their bank account, ATM/ Credit/Debit card numbers and passwords in their phone memory because if one falls a prey to such crooks then the moment your cell phone or sim are cloned, the data will be available to the crooks who can withdraw amount from your bank accounts as well," warns Punit Misra; an IT expert who also owns a consultancy in Lucknow. The menace that threatens to steal the subscriber's information stored in the phone or external memory (sim, memory & data cards) has a very scary side as well. Once cloned, the culprits can well use the cloned copy to make calls to any number they wish to. This exposes the subscribers to the threat of their connection being used for terror calls. Though it will be established during the course of investigations that the cellphone has been cloned and misused elsewhere, it is sure to land the subscriber under quite some pressure till the time the fact about his or her phone being cloned and misused is established, intelligence sources said. "It usually starts with a miss call from a number starting with + 92. The moment the subscriber calls back on the miss call, his or her cell phone is cloned. In case the subscribers takes the call before it is dropped as a miss call then the caller on the other end poses as a call center executive checking the connectivity and call flow of the particular service provider. The caller then asks the subscriber to press # 09 or # 90 call back on his number to establish that the connectivity to the subscriber was seamless," says a victim who reported the matter to the BSNL office at Moradabad last week. "The moment I redialed the caller number, my account balance lost a sum of money. Thereafter, in the three days that followed every time I got my cell phone recharged, the balance would be reduced to single digits within the next few minutes," she told the BSNL officials.

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France brings in breathalyser law

New motoring laws have come into force in France making it compulsory for drivers to carry breathalyser kits in their vehicles. As of July 1, motorists and motorcyclists will face an on-the-spot fine unless they travel with two single-use devices as part of a government drive to reduce the number of drink-drive related deaths. The new regulations, which excludes mopeds, will be fully enforced and include foreigner drivers from November 1 following a four-month grace period. Anyone failing to produce a breathalyser after that date will receive an 11 euro fine. French police have warned they will be carrying out random checks on drivers crossing into France via ferries and through the Channel Tunnel to enforce the new rules. Retailers in the UK have reported a massive rise in breathalyser sales as British drivers travelling across the Channel ensure they do not fall foul of the new legislation. Car accessory retailer Halfords said it is selling one kit every minute of the day and has rushed extra stock into stores to cope with the unprecedented demand. Six out of 10 Britons travelling to France are not aware they have to carry two NF approved breathalysers at all times, according to the company. The French government hopes to save around 500 lives a year by introducing the new laws, which will encourage drivers who suspect they may be over the limit to test themselves with the kits. The French drink-driving limit is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood - substantially less than the UK limit of 80mg.

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The number of Britons arrested overseas is on the rise, official figures have shown.

 The Foreign Office (FO) handled 6,015 arrest cases involving British nationals abroad between April 2011 and March 2012. This was 6% more than in the previous 12 months and included a 2% rise in drug arrests. The figures, which include holidaymakers and Britons resident overseas, showed the highest number of arrests and detentions was in Spain (1,909) followed by the USA (1,305). Spanish arrests rose 9% in 2011/12, while the United States was up 3%. The most arrests of Britons for drugs was in the US (147), followed by Spain (141). The highest percentage of arrests for drugs in 2011/12 was in Peru where there were only 17 arrests in total, although 15 were for drugs. The FO said anecdotal evidence from embassies and consulates overseas suggested many incidents were alcohol-fuelled, particularly in popular holiday destinations such as the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, the Balearics (which include Majorca and Ibiza), Malta and Cyprus. Consular Affairs Minister Jeremy Browne said: "It is important that people understand that taking risks abroad can land them on the wrong side of the law. "The punishments can be very severe, with tougher prison conditions than in the UK. While we will work hard to try and ensure the safety of British nationals abroad, we cannot interfere in another country's legal system. "We find that many people are shocked to discover that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot get them out of jail. We always provide consular support to British nationals in difficulty overseas. However, having a British passport does not make you immune to foreign laws and will not get you special treatment in prison."

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