The US government has unveiled charges against former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez. in relation to participating in a cocaine-importation conspiracy, as well as firearms offences. He's now been extradited to the United States.
The indictment unsealed by the US Justice Department marked a stunning fall from grace for the former Washington ally who led the Central American nation from 2014 to January 2022.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Hernandez received millions of dollars from drug trafficking organisations, including from the former leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and used those funds to enrich himself and finance his political campaigns.
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was transported by helicopter from the headquarters of the National Directorate of Special Forces, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to the airport, ahead of his extradition to the US. Source: AAP / Gustavo Amador/EPA
"Hernandez abused his position as president of Honduras from 2014 through 2022 to operate the country as a narco-state," US Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters in Washington. "Hernandez worked closely with other public officials to protect cocaine shipments bound for the United States."
Hernandez was a key ally to the United States during the Obama and Trump administrations on immigration and anti-narcotics operations. But US prosecutors revealed in court filings last year that Hernandez, 53, was under investigation as part of a sprawling probe into Honduras' bloody narcotics trade.
Hernandez's extradition to the US to face drug trafficking charges is a dramatic reversal for the former Honduran leader, who was once touted by US authorities as a key ally in the war on drugs. Source: AP / Elmer Martinez/AP
Hernandez's younger brother, Tony Hernandez, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in March 2021 after an earlier conviction on drug trafficking charges. Read full story
The former president had strongly denied the allegations, arguing that captured traffickers smeared him to exact revenge against his government and to reduce their sentences. But he has pledged to cooperate with authorities and has portrayed himself as a fierce opponent of drug trafficking.
'Honduras wants our help'
In the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, the handcuffed ex-president was escorted to the airport by a phalanx of security forces. Around the airport, dozens of people gathered waving the country's blue and white flag to celebrate Hernandez's extradition.
Hernandez departed aboard a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) plane on Thursday afternoon and was expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court in the coming days.
"If you turn the power of the state into a violent drug trafficking machine, if you allow violence and murder to flourish at the hands of the cartels, then the DEA will stop at nothing to hold you accountable," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told reporters.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, accused by the United States of three charges related to drug trafficking, boards a plane to be extradited to the US in Tegucigalpa. Source: AAP / Gustavo Amador/EPA
The indictment was filed on January 27 - the day Hernandez was replaced by leftist Xiomara Castro following her November victory over Nasry Asfura, the candidate from Hernandez's right-leaning National Party - but kept sealed until Thursday.
The US Department of Justice generally refrains from indicting sitting heads of state.
"The new administration of Honduras wants our help," Mr Garland said. "There's no conflict between our doing this kind of work and having good relationships in Latin America."
Honduran police detained Hernandez in mid-February following a US extradition request, according to a US Embassy document seen by Reuters at the time.
The Honduran Supreme Court in March authorised Hernandez's extradition
Share
