Cachiros
{{Short description|Honduran drug cartel}}
{{Multiple issues|
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{{Infobox criminal organization
|name = Cachiros
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|founded = 1990s
|founder =
|founding_location =
|years_active = 1990s-present
|territory = Honduras, Nicaragua
|ethnicity = Hondurans
|membership =
|leaders = Javier Eriberto Rivera Maradiaga
Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga
|activities = Drug trafficking, money laundering
|allies = Sinaloa Cartel
Los Rastrojos
|rivals =
|notable_members =
}}
Cachiros or Los Cachiros is the name of a Honduran criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking. It was founded in the early 1990s by a group of cattle farmers in the departments of Colón and Olancho de Honduras.{{cite web|url=http://www.insightcrime.org/honduras-organized-crime-news/cachiros-profile |title=Cachiros Profile |publisher=Insightcrime.org |date=2017-04-07 |accessdate=2017-04-19}}
One of the leaders of the Cachiros, Javier Maradiaga, also known as "Javier Cachiro", surrendered to the US government in January 2015. During the trial, Maradiaga pleaded guilty to the charge of drug trafficking.{{cite web|url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/alleged-head-of-honduras-drug-cartel-in-us-custody |title=Alleged Head of Honduras Drug Cartel in US Custody |author=David Gagne |publisher=Insightcrime.org |date=2015-02-03 |accessdate=2017-04-19}}
After Maradiaga's statement, Honduran authorities seized goods valued between 500 and 800 million dollars. The net worth of the Cachiros is valued at more than one billion dollars.
In March 2017, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga testified at the trial of Fabio Porfirio Lobo in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Rivera Maradiaga declared that during the period from 2009 to 2013, the Honduran government assisted him in his drug trafficking operations by providing police intelligence, radar information, and assignment of military personnel to provide security.{{cite web |url=http://pullzone-tiempo.editorialhondura.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/fff.pdf |title=UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. FABIO PORFIRIO LOBO, Defendant. |publisher=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK |accessdate=2017-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315000517/http://pullzone-tiempo.editorialhondura.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/fff.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-15 |url-status=dead }}
Rivera Maradiaga also said his organization paid bribes to prominent members of the Honduran government including former president Porfirio Lobo Sosa. The bribes were made in order to receive support to their operations and be granted contracts to companies owned by the Cachiros.{{cite web|author=James Bargent |url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/honduras-narco-testifies-ex-president-took-bribes-from-traffickers |title=Honduras Narco Testifies Ex-President Took Bribes from Traffickers |publisher=Insightcrime.org |date=2017-03-07 |accessdate=2017-04-19}}{{cite web |author=Noe Leiva |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/honduras-probes-cartel-links-public-contracts-220945644.html |title=Honduras probes cartel links to public contracts |publisher=Yahoo.com |date=2017-03-20 |accessdate=2017-04-19 |archive-date=2017-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321171840/https://www.yahoo.com/news/honduras-probes-cartel-links-public-contracts-220945644.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/honduras-probe-alleged-drug-cartel-links-ex-president-003257368.html |title=Honduras to probe alleged drug cartel links with ex-president |publisher=Sg.news.yahoo.com |date=2017-03-09 |accessdate=2017-04-19}}
Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga not only testified but also provided evidence in the form of voice recordings, videos, photographs, etc.