The US government has extradited former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez after charging him with participating in a cocaine-importation conspiracy and related firearms offenses.
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez is heading to the United States to face cocaine-importation charges, and related firearms offences.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.
"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'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.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.