Extradition of ex-Honduran leader Hernández

Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández is scheduled to be extradited to the United States as soon as next week, according to Honduras’ security minister.

Mr. Hernández, who ruled from 2014 until January of this year, was arrested in February at his Tegucigalpa home.

He is suspected of being a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy that includes his younger brother Tony Hernández, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States last year.

The former president maintains his innocence.

Security Minister Ramón Sabillón said that “the extradition will happen next week (….) sometime between Wednesday and Friday”.

MrSabillón  According to the statement, the former president would be turned over to US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers who would transport him to New York.

Last month, a judge granted the extradition request. Mr. Hernández’s legal team’s appeal against the decision was dismissed.

The former president is charged with three felonies: conspiracy to import a restricted substance into the United States, possession or use of firearms, including machine guns, and conspiracy to possess or use firearms.

MrHernández maintains his innocence and claims the charges are concocted by drug traffickers seeking to frame him in retaliation for what he describes as his government’s strict anti-drug efforts.

The 53-year-old has been detained by police since his arrest in February, only weeks after being succeeded by newly elected President Xiomara Castro.

Mr. Sabillón stated that he spoke with the previous president, who he described as “worried but operating.”

Juan Orlando Hernández’s legal woes began with the trial of his younger brother Tony, a former Honduran legislator.

Prosecutors claimed during the New York trial that known Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán personally paid Tony Hernández $1 million.

According to prosecutors, Guzmán instructed the younger Hernández to pay a bribe to his brother Juan Orlando, who was running for president at the time.

The previous president has consistently asserted that he did everything possible to combat drug trafficking.

Honduras has long been a major transit country for drugs transported from South America to the United States and has recently developed a reputation as a producer of cocaine.

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