The document stated that the Honduran army lost several types of arms, which now coincide with the serial numbers of those retrieved from the Mexican drug cartel in Ciudad Juárez, and the Colombian cartel of San Andres, in early 2008. The cable, dated Oct 2, 2008, is a report made by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) entitled “Honduras: Military Weapons Fuel Black Market in Arms “.

According to the analysis, the Division of Military Material Identification of the DIA reviewed the seized equipment, and it coincided with brands and serial numbers of a shipment (50 units) to the Second Infantry Battalion in Honduras.

Such material was transferred in 1992, as part of U.S. military sales to foreign armies.

According to the report, in April 2008, an FAH investigation showed that the battalion did not know the whereabouts of 26 military equipments supplied by the United States for training. According to General Douglas Fraser, head of the U.S. Southern Command, currently Central American corrupt militaries are the ones responsible for arming the Mexican cartels.

He believes that part of the equipment provided by his government for past wars and conflicts is nowadays smuggled by traffickers throughout the entire region.

The U.S. government also acknowledges that through the southern border of Mexico large-bore weapons get into the nation, weapons that have been illegally purchased by organized crime from the arsenals of armies in Central America.

“Over 50 percent of the military-type weapons that are flowing throughout the region have a large source between Central American stockpiles, if you will, left over from wars and conflicts in the past,” said General Douglas Fraser, the head of the U.S. Southern Command.

However, the Honduran Defense Minister Marlon Pascual, says those responsible for the theft in the Second Battalion of Infantry are already behind bars.