Raleigh bar owner traveling to Honduras after wife jailed over drug charges

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A Raleigh woman is currently in jail in Honduras and her husband is on his way to the Central American country to try to help her.

Amanda LaRoque posted a minute-long video to Facebook describing how she ended up in the Honduran jail on drug charges.

She and her husband, Brandon LaRoque, own “The Goat” bar on Western Boulevard in Raleigh.

They say she was in Honduras to look at buying real estate and was carrying cash in a hollowed-out iced tea bottle she purchased online.

She explains in the video why authorities arrested her.

“They’re saying that the concrete in the can is cocaine and they are now containing me and are charging me with possessing and trafficking cocaine without the ability to check the canister,” Amanda LaRoque said in the video.

Brandon LaRoque said the can contains concrete so it has some weight, making it feel like a real can of tea.

In a FaceTime conversation with CBS North Carolina, Brandon LaRoque said his wife is innocent.

“If she were in the U.S. being arrested, I would be flipping out, much less in a foreign country, especially being an innocent person,” he said.

He said they have been in touch with a Honduran lawyer and have spoken with the U.S. embassy in Honduras.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for certain areas of Honduras including Gracias a Dios Department, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba.