The seizure was due to the security measures established by the company Airports of Honduras, and in place at the Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport.

About 6:30 a.m., Sandra Lorena Valencia Álvarez (26), Ramiro Antonio Zamora (51), Pedro Leonardo Boada Oliva (34) and Jaime Sierra Cuervo (46), reported their luggage to the airline that would transport them to Cali, Colombia. The system X-rayed the bags and found irregularities within; the Colombians were immediately detained. The foreigners had no choice but to confess to carrying a large sum of money in the suitcases.

When the authorities of the Organized Crime Prosecution inspected the suitcases, they found inside a plastic folder with several packages of money. In two of the bags 50 packages containing 10 thousand dollars each were found, while the other three contained $540,000. In the purse of Sandra Lorena Valencia Álvarez, police also found $2,540 dollars, bringing the total to $1,542,040.

The Preventive Police Commissioner, Guillermo Arias said they are complying with the orders of the Ministry of Security, to combat drug trafficking in the country.

“This was the work of intelligence and strategy, to capture these people, as we received information that a large sum of money would be transported to the South American country, so we quickly mobilized a team,” he declared.

The subjects were charged with the laundering of money.

This is the second time this year that a large amount of money was confiscated at the airport. A few months ago, four suitcases had been left with the ticket agent at Ramón Villeda by a Panamanian and a Venezuelan, which contained nearly a million dollars.

The authorities looked for the luggage owners, who allegedly were in the boarding area, but they had disappeared without a trace.

This past Saturday, Maritza Mejía Jácome (29), a resident of the San Jorge neighborhood in Chamelecón was crossing the boarding gate when the alarm went off. The woman became nervous, which aroused suspicion, and was apprehended immediately. Ms. Mejía Jácome admitted to carrying a large sum of money wound around her waist. She was supposed to head to Panama and turn the funds over to someone else. The woman said a taxi driver, who she identified as Alejandro Mejía, gave her the money and offered to pay her one thousand dollars to to take it out of the country.

The taxi driver said he simply gave the woman a ride to the airport. National Directorate of Special Investigation Services seized the taxi cab and have arrested Mr. Mejía.