Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The U.S. government announced that the main charges he faces John Orlando Hernandez in that country are drug trafficking, use of weapons for drug trafficking and conspiracy to use weapons in drug trafficking.
US prosecutors in New York had repeatedly implicated Hernández as a co-conspirator during his brother’s 2019 drug trial, claiming his political rise was fueled by drug profits.
His brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years on drug and weapons charges in March 2021. At his sentencing, Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Laroche characterized the crimes as “state-sponsored drug trafficking.”
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In April 2020, Hernández was again named as an accomplice when US prosecutors charged the former head of the National Police Juan Carlos the “Tiger” Bonilla Valladares for drug trafficking and weapons-related charges. According to the indictment, Hernández entrusted Bonilla “special missions, including assassination.”
In a third case, less than a year later, a court heard that Hernández had allegedly conspired with another Honduran drug trafficker, Geovanny Fuentesto “put the drug up the noses of the gringos.”
Fuentes was sentenced last February 8 to life in prison for the crimes of importing cocaine and weapons, plus a fine of $151.7 millionthe US Department of Justice reported in a statement.
Honduran criminal lawyer Marlon Duarte He explained that the extradition process against Hernández, if it advances, will not last more than three months.
Panorama
Hernández was a particularly close ally of the former US president’s administration. Donald Trump. His administration agreed to help prevent Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the US.
“President Hernández is working very closely with the United States,” former President Donald Trump said in December 2019.
“They know what is happening on our southern border. And we are winning after years and years of losing.”
However, the administration of the current president, Joe Biden, had kept a distance from Hernández. The State Department said days ago that it would bar the former president from entering the United States.
He cited “multiple credible media reports” accusing Hernández of engaging “in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and drug trafficking, and using the proceeds of illicit activities to facilitate political campaigns.”
“There is more than enough evidence to accuse him – and convict him,” said the former DEA operations chief Mike Vigil a Univision.
“The DEA does not do things lightly because US prosecutors are among the most conservative in the world. They will not take a case unless it is totally watertight and winnable,” he added.
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“Throughout the last eight years of decadence, depravity and impunity, consecutive US administrations tarnished our reputation by treating Hernández as a friend and partner,” the US senator said in a statement issued yesterday. Patrick Leahyone of those who publicly supported the extradition initiative against the former president JOH.
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