On Mar. 29 and 30 a meeting of the heads of Central American Police Intelligence took place in Managua to discuss the regional problem of international drug and arms trafficking. In recent weeks the Honduran authorities have made claims that members of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are carrying out sales of drugs for weapons in Nicaragua, claims that are denied by the Nicaragua Police, Army, and Minister of Governance Julio Vega.

Salomon de Jesus Escoto Salinas, head of Information and Analysis of Intelligence for the Honduras Police, made the claims which suspiciously fit in with the US government campaign to force the Nicaraguan army to destroy its SAM-7 missiles because of the "danger" that they would fall into the hands of "terrorists." Escoto claimed that a number of detainees being held in the Honduras have provided information about members of the FARC who they say are operating in Nicaragua. Escoto added that a number of weapons carried by criminals from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and other Central American countries when captured in Honduras in recent months in connection with drug trafficking activities are presumed to have been bought in Nicaragua. He also claimed his agency has information suggesting that members of FARC are carrying out drug and weapon interchanges in Panama, something the Panamanian authorities deny. He did not provide names or evidence for any of his charges.

Edwin Cordero, Director of the Nicaragua National Police, denied the claims, saying that while the Police have information about members of Colombian paramilitaries in Nicaragua, there is no evidence that members of FARC operate within national boundaries. He considers Escoto's claims to be "ridiculous" and says that if they have evidence of the presence of FARC members in Nicaragua then they should "give us names and tell us where they are." Former US-equipped contras failed to turn in many of the weapons provided to them by the US government when it was trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government in the 1980s. Recently a SAM-7 missile provided to the contras by the US was intercepted in a failed incident allegedly hatched in the US embassy to look like a sale of an Army-owned missile.

Julio Vega expressed his annoyance that members of the Honduran authorities make these claims but have not presented any specific information or evidence to the Nicaraguan security forces.