Both officials were prevented from entering their offices yesterday by order of the Minister of Soptravi, Jose Rosario Bonano. This led to scuffles with the security guards, especially with Quezada, who sought to ignore the order of the minister.

The surprise dismissal could be due to the alleged disbursement of 30 operating permits for motorbike taxis in La Ceiba, without the authorization of Bonano, who consulted President Micheletti before taking action.

In November of last year, Quezada fell under harsh criticism for issuing new permits when a ban was allegedly in place to do so. Quezada argued the point, saying that the permits issued were to provide new routes in places where there had been no transportation service, such as in the departments of Lempira, Olancho and Gracias a Dios. “Legally speaking there is no ban, however, we have been extremely responsible,” said the Director of Transportation.

Following the events of June 28th last year, Quezada replaced Pastor Canales as the Director of Transportation, and Ramon Mejia Rosa later became Deputy Director of Transportation.

The Director of Economic Studies is responsible for making field investigations. A group of agents of the DNIC was present at the offices of transportation, in search of documents allegedly linking the now dismissed officials. The case will be passed on to the Prosecution to make the necessary investigations into the possibility of charging the former officials criminally in the case.