Honduras’ top anti-drug official killed Tuesday

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Gunmen on motorcycles ambushed and killed Honduras’ top anti-drug official in the capital Tuesday, just two months before he planned to retire and move to Canada.

Former army Gen. Julian Aristides Gonzalez, director of the Office for Combatting Drug Trafficking, was driving alone after dropping his daughter at school when assailants opened fire and then fled, national police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said.

No arrests have been made, and investigators were trying to determine a motive. Last
year, Gonzalez said he had received death threats from drug traffickers.

“We regret the death of this man who offered his life for the welfare of Hondurans,” Cerrato said. “By the decency of his actions, he unleashed a real battle against the main vice that besets humanity.”

Gonzalez, 57, served five years in the post and was preparing to step down in two months, when Honduras’ new president takes office. He had planned to move to Canada, Cerrato said.