CNN
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Juan Orlando Hernández, the previous president of Honduras, was extradited Thursday to the US, the place he’ll face federal drug trafficking and firearms possession costs.
The US Justice Division on the identical time unsealed an indictment alleging Hernández engaged in a conspiracy to guard and revenue off smugglers shifting cocaine from Central and South America into the US.
The indictment in US District Courtroom within the Southern District of New York costs Hernández with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine weapons and damaging units, and conspiracy to own machine weapons and damaging units.
“As is charged within the indictment, Hernández abused his place as President of Honduras from 2014 via 2022 to function the nation as a narco-state,” US Lawyer Common Merrick Garland mentioned Thursday at a information convention saying the fees.
The Honduran authorities mentioned Hernández, who denied allegations in opposition to him, was being flown to New York.
He was taken from a police particular forces jail to an air base in Tegucigalpa, the capital, for the flight. The handcuffed Hernández, sporting a blue jacket and denims, was escorted by greater than a dozen cops, as seen on native tv.
Hernández was positioned in a US Drug Enforcement Administration airplane that took off from Toncontin Worldwide Airport at round 4:20 p.m. native time, Honduran authorities mentioned.
Hernández’s spouse, Ana Garcia, posted a video of the previous president on her Twitter account.
“The reality is a liberating power when it’s revealed, it’s my prayer, my household’s and of hundreds of Honduran households, so the reality is revealed and prevails in my case. I’m harmless, I’ve been, and I’m unfairly handled by the method,” he mentioned.
“You understand that I labored tirelessly to revive peace in Honduras. We gave our most effort for our nation, and it’s unlucky that those that turned Honduras into some of the violent international locations on Earth, these villains, now wish to be heroes,” Hernández mentioned within the video, whose recording date is unknown.
The Honduran Supreme Courtroom final month licensed the extradition.
Hernández left workplace in January after eight years as president.
The previous chief was arrested at his residence on February 15 on the request of the US authorities. A few month earlier, federal prosecutors claimed Hernández helped an alleged drug trafficker ship hundreds of kilos of cocaine to the US in trade for hefty bribes. His administration denied the allegation.
Hernández’s brother, Tony Hernández, is presently serving a life sentence in a US federal jail for drug trafficking.
Based on courtroom filings in that case, US authorities consider Hernández was a co-conspirator within the operation, funneling drug cash to assist fund his presidential campaigns. Hernández has repeatedly denied these allegations.
Based on the indictment, Hernández partnered with a few of the most violent drug trafficking teams, receiving tens of millions of {dollars} off a community that funneled cocaine via Honduras and into the US. He used the cash, the indictment says, to complement himself, finance his political rise and subsequently stay in energy.
In trade, Hernández supplied the trafficking organizations with regulation enforcement info that helped defend the organizations’ leaders from felony investigations, protected leaders from extradition to the US and allowed them to commit violence with just about no penalties, US authorities say.
Garland mentioned that the Justice Division’s yearslong investigation into drug trafficking organizations have led to “the conviction of quite a few Honduran drug traffickers who have been accountable for the importation of over 500,000 kilograms of cocaine into the US and dozens of overseas murders.”
“For those who suppose you’ll be able to cover behind the facility of your place, you’re unsuitable,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram mentioned through the information convention.
