Tegucigalpa (Honduras), July 13 (EFE) Ten police officers were arrested on drug charges in the Caribbean region of Honduras and 142 kg of cocaine was seized from them, prosecutors said.

The officers belong to the National Criminal Investigation Agency (DNIC), and were based in Tegucigalpa. But they were arrested Saturday in Villeda Morales, a city in the Caribbean province of Gracias a Dios, on the border with Nicaragua, prosecutor Ricardo Rodriguez said.

The officers went to Gracias a Dios to pick up the cocaine, the prosecutor said.

The DNIC officers will be prosecuted, National Police chief Jose Luis Munoz told reporters in Tegucigalpa.

Areas in Gracias a Dios and other places in Honduras are used as transit or storage areas by drug traffickers operating out of South America.

The drugs are moved through Honduras and on to the US or Europe, officials said.