Honduras says 10 killed in drug gangs’ shootout

Authorities in Honduras say 10 people died in a shootout between rival drug gangs fighting over a cocaine shipment in northern Honduras.

Deputy Defence Minister Carlos Funez says a Nicaraguan drug kingpin was killed in the battle in the border province of Gracias a Dios. Funez said on Monday that Victor Centeno’s body was taken by his gunmen over the border into Nicaragua.

Army spokesman Colonel Jeremias Arevalos says Centeno’s group faced off a drug gang led by Honduran Fredy Marmol. Arevalos says the two groups have been fighting over drug trafficking routes and cocaine shipments.

Honduras has become a main transit route for South American cocaine, and violence tied to trafficking has helped drive the country’s homicide rate to the highest level in the world.