The United States has charged former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez with drug and weapons offences, the Justice Department said , accusing the former leader of abusing his power to run Honduras like a “narco-state”.
The indictment was unsealed shortly after Hernandez on Thursday afternoon was taken in handcuffs to a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) plane in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, bound for the US.
Filed by prosecutors in New York, it charged Hernandez with three counts of drug and weapons offences. “Hernandez abused his position as President of Honduras … to operate the country as a narco-state,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters.
His extradition came after Honduras’ top court in late March cleared the way for Hernandez, who served as president from 2014 until January of this year, to be extradited to face charges in a New York court.
The US Justice Department said in a statement that Hernandez – once viewed as a key US ally in the war on drugs – “participated in a corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy to facilitate the importation of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States”.
“Hernandez allegedly received millions of dollars to use his public office, law enforcement, and the military to support drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere,” it said, including approximately $1m from Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Hernandez has denied all the charges, saying they are part of a plot orchestrated by enemies who are trying to get back at him.
The former president lost his immunity after handing power to Xiomara Castro, the country’s first female president, in late January. The US indictment was filed the same day she took office, on January 27, but kept sealed until Thursday.
Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during a news conference on Thursday evening that Hernandez was involved in “rampant corruption and massive cocaine trafficking” that spurred violence in Honduras.
“Honduras became one of the most violent countries in the world during the defendant’s presidency, and while Hernandez amassed money and political influence, the people of Honduras endured conditions of poverty and violence,” he said.