US official: DEA agents shot dead pilot of cocaine flight in Honduras earlier in week

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A U.S. official says that two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents shot and killed the pilot of a suspected drug flight that crashed earlier in the week while being chased by government aircraft.

At the time, officials said they found cocaine on board the plane that went down in eastern Honduras. They said one pilot died in the July 3 incident, but did not say how.

DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said Sunday that when police arrived at the scene they found the plane’s two pilots.

She said one was arrested and the other was shot dead by two DEA agents after he ignored an order to surrender and made a threatening gesture.

It was the second time a DEA agent has killed someone in Honduras since the agency began deploying agents several years ago to accompany local law enforcement personnel on drug raids.