Reporters Christopher Sherman, Martha Mendoza and Garance Burke were weeks into a deep look at police misconduct in Honduras, where public mistrust of law enforcement is among the highest in the world. So when they heard a new national police chief had been appointed, they immediately shifted gears and began asking questions about him.
What they found was explosive – a confidential government security document that detailed a troubling allegation regarding the force. It said the newly named National Police Chief Jose David Aguilar Moran had once helped a drug cartel leader pull off the delivery of nearly a ton of cocaine. The clandestine haul, worth at least $20 million on U.S. streets, was packed inside a tanker truck that, the report said, was escorted by corrupt police officers to the home of Wilter Blanco, a drug trafficker recently convicted in Florida and now serving a 20-year sentence.
For their dogged reporting, Sherman, Mendoza and Burke share the Beat of the Week.
Getting the report was the first step. Vetting and confirming it took long, exhaustive hours, as the three reported in both Honduras and the United States to authenticate both the document and the damning allegations it detailed. They came away with four sources and other internal memos and a page from a personnel file to independently verify the claims.
Then it was time to tell the story. There were U.S. court records involving Blanco and his drug dealing, a police purge underway in Honduras and the compelling narrative outlined in the secret government report: On Oct. 15, 2013, a local head of a tourism police agency, acting on a tip, stopped a tanker truck loaded with cocaine around noon. Protecting the load were 11 police officers in four vehicles. The tourism officer hauled everyone — and the tanker of cocaine — into the station, but soon an irate regional police chief showed up, threatening to get everyone fired for interfering with the illicit delivery. They argued, the tourism officer pulled his gun and the regional chief ended up on the floor in handcuffs, demanding a call to Aguilar, the report said.
Aguilar put a stop to the bust, ordering the release of both the police officer and the cocaine, according to the report. Soon, it said, the drugs were back on their route to Blanco.
As they approached publication, Sherman, based in Mexico City, and Mendoza and Burke in California made sure to use heightened security online and on calls with Global Investigations Editor Michael Hudson. They gave the Honduran president and police chief ample opportunity to respond and sought comment from U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, whose namesake laws ban U.S. funds from military or security forces that violate human rights with impunity.
When the story published, AP was alone in telling the world about the troubling incident that raises questions about the reliability of the administration of President Jose Orlando Hernandez, a key U.S. ally in the war on drugs.
The multi-format investigation got excellent play a day before Hernandez’s inauguration following a highly disputed election. It dominated newscasts and headlines in Honduras and across the region. The story received prominent mention in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, ABC News, Fox News, Voice of America, the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Mail, among others. It was featured on the homepage of Honduran papers El Heraldo, El Tiempo, Proceso, La Tribuna, Criterio and La Prensa, and prominently displayed by Canal 6 and TeleSUR.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, rear, second from right, watches the change of command exchange ceremony between his new National Police Chief Jose David Aguilar Moran, left, and outgoing Gen. Felix Villanueva in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Jan. 15, 2018. A confidential government report obtained by the AP alleges that Aguilar helped a cartel leader pull off the delivery of nearly a ton of cocaine, raising questions about Honduras' much-touted purge of corrupt police and the reliability of the administration of Hernandez, a key U.S. ally in the war on drugs.
AP PHOTO
Honduras' new National Police Chief Jose David Aguilar Moran leaves the National Stadium after attending the presidential inauguration of Juan Orlando Hernandez, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Jan. 27, 2018. When Aguilar took over as Honduras' new national police chief, he promised to continue reforming a law enforcement agency stained by corruption and complicity with drug cartels, but a confidential government security report obtained by the AP says Aguilar himself helped a cartel leader pull off the delivery of nearly a ton of cocaine in 2013.
AP Photo / Fernando Antonio
Soldiers and police launch tear gas at demonstrators marching to the National Stadium to protest the presidential inauguration of Juan Orlando Hernandez, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Jan. 27, 2018. Hernandez was sworn in for a second term amid protests against the November election that was marred by irregularities and allegations of fraud.
AP Photo / Eduardo Verdugo
Opposition lawmakers protest Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) during the opening ceremony of Congress in Tegucigalpa, Jan. 25, 2018. The opposition did not recognize Hernandez's reelection victory and were protesting election results ahead of his Jan. 27 swearing-in ceremony.
AP Photo / Eduardo Verdugo
The package ran with still photographs of the police chief’s inauguration, unrest in the streets and past instances of police corruption. AP’s social media strategy deftly promoted the story throughout the day as it topped the wire, and reader engagement was very high at 1:45 minutes in English and Spanish.
El Heraldo ran an editorial saying that instead of criticizing journalists, authorities should investigate the allegations raised by AP.
Authorities in Honduras pledged to investigate both Aguilar and the AP, and that too was widely covered in Honduras. On Thursday a leading newspaper, El Heraldo, ran an editorial that said instead of criticizing journalists, authorities should investigate the allegations raised in AP’s story to remove any doubts regarding the new chief’s background.
For painstaking work that yielded a major scoop, Sherman, Mendoza and Burke will share the $500 Beat of the Week prize.