TEGUCIGALPA: Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was set to be extradited to the United States Thursday, the government said, to stand trial for allegedly aiding the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine to America.
The 53-year-old, whose 2014-2022 stint as president was plagued by allegations of corruption, risks spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
Hernandez is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of cocaine — mainly from Colombia and Venezuela — to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before his presidency.
In turn, he allegedly received “millions of dollars in bribes... from multiple narcotrafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico and other places,” according to a US Embassy document.
Not even three weeks after leaving office following elections last November, a warrant was issued for Hernandez’s arrest at Washington’s request, and he surrendered to police on February 15.
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