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| Honduras police arrest US woman accused of being gang leader | Honduras police arrest US woman accused of being gang leader |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A 21-year-old American woman has been detained in Honduras for allegedly heading a faction of the Mara Barrio 18, one of the gangs responsible for a crime wave in the Central American country that has sent families flocking to the United States seeking refuge. | A 21-year-old American woman has been detained in Honduras for allegedly heading a faction of the Mara Barrio 18, one of the gangs responsible for a crime wave in the Central American country that has sent families flocking to the United States seeking refuge. |
| Related: ‘Flee or die’: violence drives Central America’s child migrants to US border | Related: ‘Flee or die’: violence drives Central America’s child migrants to US border |
| Amarjit “La Chucky” Pabla and two other Hondurans were arrested on Tuesday night in a poor neighbourhood of the capital Tegucigalpa, where authorities also seized seven firearms. | Amarjit “La Chucky” Pabla and two other Hondurans were arrested on Tuesday night in a poor neighbourhood of the capital Tegucigalpa, where authorities also seized seven firearms. |
| A spokeswoman for the National Anti-Extortion Force (FNA) police unit said that Pabla planned and ordered killings in territorial disputes with rival gangs. | A spokeswoman for the National Anti-Extortion Force (FNA) police unit said that Pabla planned and ordered killings in territorial disputes with rival gangs. |
| Pabla, who was born in California to an American father and a Honduran mother, is the wife of Cristian Ariel “Little Sam” Calix, a Barrio 18 leader who has been in prison since December on charges of arms and drug trafficking, according to FNA. | |
| A spokesman for the US embassy in Honduras said the embassy takes its obligation to support American citizens abroad very seriously and will provide all appropriate consular assistance to Pabla. | A spokesman for the US embassy in Honduras said the embassy takes its obligation to support American citizens abroad very seriously and will provide all appropriate consular assistance to Pabla. |
| Formed in the 1980s in the United States by Central American immigrants, the “maras” morphed into feared international gangs when, a decade later, many of their leaders were deported to their countries of origin such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. | Formed in the 1980s in the United States by Central American immigrants, the “maras” morphed into feared international gangs when, a decade later, many of their leaders were deported to their countries of origin such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. |
| Women rarely hold leadership positions in the gangs. | Women rarely hold leadership positions in the gangs. |
| The two most dangerous gangs, Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha 13, are waging a war to dominate extortion, drug dealing and theft that has turned Central America into one of the most dangerous regions of the world. |