Mysterious death of Iranian-American in Honduras

UPI: Honduran authorities are investigating the death of an Iranian-American found shot at a hotel he owned in Intibuca province Saturday.

Branni Medy Mohammed owned the Cabanas Los Pinos hotel. Police concluded that Mohammed and watchman Juan Dominguez were shot and killed Friday.

EFE news agency reported that Intibuca police commissioner Guido Gomez Chavez told journalists that officers searching the hotel found two suitcases containing paper and chemicals for counterfeiting money.

The search uncovered documents leading the investigators to conclude that Mohammed "had contacts in Mexico and Venezuela," according to Gomez.

Gomez said that Mohammed had lived for more than a decade in Honduras with his Honduran wife Elda Iris Pineda and their three children.

Gomez did not comment on whether authorities located any counterfeit currency.

Anti-terrorism experts say extremist cells linked to Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida now operate in Latin American countries, and the groups are suspected of counterfeiting U.S. currency and smuggling drugs to help finance their activities.