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- BBC News World
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image source, Getty Images
Herlinda Bobadilla was arrested this weekend in Honduras.
It seems like a domino effect: once the first one fell, many of the possible actors within the drug trafficking plot in Honduras have begun to fall one after another.
First it was Juan Antonio Hernández, who in 2020 was found guilty of drug and arms trafficking.
Tony, as he is nicknamed, was the brother of the then president of the Central American country, Juan Orlando Hernández, who in turn was captured earlier this year accused of the same crimes and extradited to the United States.
And this Sunday, images were released of the arrest of Herlinda Bobadilla, alias La Chinda, for whom the US government offered a US$5 million reward to exchange of information leading to his capture.
Bobadilla is considered the leader of the Montes Bobadilla clan, accused of controlling the Honduran Caribbean area, where, through their links with drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico, they would have managed to ship thousands of kilos of cocaine to the United States.
One of his sons, Tito Montes, died in the operation, while another of his sons, Juan Carlos, would have managed to flee from the pressure of the authoritieswho are still looking for him.
But the image of Herlinda – who is 61 years old and was handcuffed and transferred in a police helicopter from the Colón region, where she was captured, to the capital Tegucigalpa – raised multiple questions about her identity.
“The truth is that the presence of women within drug trafficking organizations is much more common than it seems, what happens is that they are not so visible due to the machismo that is exercised in the world of drugs” Deborah Bonello, Latin America editor for Vice World News, explained to BBC Mundo.
“Many expect to see a kind of ‘Chapa’ when talking about women in drug trafficking, when in reality they are exercising other positions of great power and responsibility, but with a low profile,” he adds.
Who is “la Chinda” and how did she manage to become the leader of one of the main drug cartels in Central America?
image source, Honduran National Police
Herlinda Bobadilla had become the leader of the Montes Bobadilla Clan, one of the main drug transporters in Central America.
a private family
The Montes Bobadilla clan has its origins in Colombia, especially linked to the once famous but now extinct Cali poster.
Pedro García Montes, a Honduran in charge of payments and other businesses, worked for them. While developing this work, he began to create drug loading, unloading and transport zones in the Caribbean zone of his country.
Over time, the business grew. In 2004, García Montes was assassinated in Cartagena and control of these operations in Honduras was assumed by one of his relatives, Alex Adán Montes Bobadilla.
So, to help you strengthen your position within the clan, Alex Adam decidee bring a trusted family member: Herlinda Bobadilla.
The woman was born in October 1961 in the town of Macuelizo, about 290 kilometers from Tegucigalpa, but lived with her family in the Colón region, in the north, where the clan’s operations were concentrated.
image source, Getty Images
Noé Montes Bobadilla was captured in 2017 and extradited to the US in 2019.
According to Honduran authorities, Herlinda had married Alejandro Montes Alvarenga and they had six children. Three of them -Alejandro (better known as Tito), José Carlos and Noé- got fully involved in working for the criminal group.
She would have actively collaborated in various internal operations of the clan in the Colón region.
Honduran authorities point out that Herlinda Bobadilla is the owner of dozens of homes in the municipality of Limón, the clan’s area of influence.
The journalistic portal Insight Crime affirms that this Honduran region is strategic for the transport of the drug brought by South American cartels, especially from Colombia, to take it to Guatemala, where it is picked up by the Mexican cartels that finally introduce it to the US.
In 2014 there was a change of command after the death of Alex Adán in prison. There he took over Noé Montes Bobadilla, Herlinda’s third son, but he was captured in 2017 and extradited to the US two years later.
Here is the moment, according to the US authorities, when she, along with her sons Tito and José Carlos, take leadership of the clan. Not only that: it increases transport operations and even, according to Honduran government documents, is involved in planting coca leaves to produce its own shipments.
“His leadership roles in the Montes drug trafficking organization have grown significantly since his arrest in 2017. and extradition to the United States in 2019 of Herlinda’s third son, Noé Montes Bobadilla,” says the State Department statement from May this year, when it offered a US$5 million reward for each of the three clan leaders.
image source, Getty Images
Herlinda Bobadilla was captured in the department of Colón, the center of operations of the Montes Bobadilla Clan.
Expansion and persecution
Although it was after the capture of Noé and his subsequent extradition that Herlinda Bobadilla (also known as Erlinda Montes Bobadilla or alias La Chinda) was promoted, the truth is that the US government. he was already behind her.
In 2015, a US court in the state of Virginia had charged her and her children with transporting cocaine and other related crimes.
It is there when a direct persecution of the clan begins. In 2017, Noé was captured, but a process of domain forfeiture also began on the properties of Herlinda Bobadilla in Honduras.
About 40 properties, located mostly in the province of Colón, they were then seized by the Honduran government.
But really the definitive step is taken with the offer of US$5 million for each of the members of the family, including Herlinda, on May 2.
image source, Getty Images
Since 2014, about 31 people have been extradited to the US from Honduras accused of drug trafficking.
The fence began to close this weekend, when In a huge operation, the Honduran Special Forces came to where Herlinda was with her two sons, Tito and José Carlos.
According to the report of the authorities, Tito died in the middle of the confrontations with the Special Forces, while José Carlos managed to escape.
The authorities then proceeded to capture her mother, who was handcuffed and sent to Tegucigalpa, where she would face charges ranging from drug trafficking to corruption and money laundering.
But, above all, she will be waiting to be extradited to the US, the country where her son Noé is, who is serving a 39-year prison sentence.
Since 2014, Honduras has extradited at least 31 of its citizens, ranging from members of the Montes Bobadilla clan to former National Police Director Juan Carlos Bonilla, who was sent to the US last week on charges of allowing transporting drugs within the country in exchange for money.
image source, Getty Images
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