The security ministry said the officers were suspected of offences including murder, kidnap and drug dealing.

The arrests follow public outcry over the release of four policemen accused of murdering two students.

Earlier this week President Porfirio Lobo sacked his top police commanders and deployed troops to combat crime.

The Congress has begun debating a new law to reform the police force and tackle corruption.

Honduras has been suffering soaring levels of violent crime, which the police have been unable to contain.

According to a UN report it had the world's highest murder rate in 2010, with much of the killing linked to criminal gangs.

It is also a major transit route for drug traffickers moving South American cocaine north to Mexico and on to the United States.