Members of the navy and air force are being trained to tackle traffickers, Defense Marlon Pascua said in comments reported Saturday in the newspaper La Tribuna.
“There is much to be done in the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking, but results will be seen soon,” Pascua said in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.
He added that the government lacks the necessary funds to fight both problems.
The Associated Press could not reach Pascua or his spokesman for comment.
It is the first the government has spoken of using the military against traffickers, who use Honduras to ship drugs north.
Washington has provided Honduras about $15 million in the last four years to combat drug trafficking.
“Even though the drug traffickers have greater resources than us, we will fight with the little we have to prevent crime from taking over the country,” Pascua said.
Mexican drug cartels operate virtually unchecked in Central America as US-supported crackdowns in Mexico and Colombia have pushed traffickers into a region.
A recent Security Ministry report said Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas drug cartels operate cocaine-trafficking routes in northern and eastern Honduras.
