Honduran police detained ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez on
Tuesday, escorting him from his residence in handcuffs and chains,
following a U.S. extradition request on drug prices that marked a
dramatic fall from grace solely weeks after Hernandez left energy,
Pattern studies
citing Reuters.
In stay footage proven on nationwide TV, police officers gave
Hernandez a bullet-proof vest and positioned a sequence between his
handcuffed wrists and ankles earlier than taking him to a close-by base for
police particular forces in Tegucigalpa, the capital.
Hernandez was proven seated at a desk the place medical doctors undertook a
medical examination in entrance of the media, together with unbuttoning
his shirt to place a stethoscope on his chest, based on stay HCH
Noticias photographs. Hernandez was then pushed away.
The suitable-wing former chief’s detention got here after a Honduran
decide on Tuesday ordered his arrest following the U.S. extradition
request on drug-trafficking and weapons prices.
A U.S. Embassy doc, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, confirmed that
U.S. authorities charged that Hernandez participated in a
drug-trafficking scheme between 2004 and 2022.
The doc alleged Hernandez was a part of an operation to
obtain tonnes of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela, which have been
to be shipped onwards to america.
Hernandez acquired thousands and thousands of {dollars} in bribes in trade for
defending traffickers from investigation and prosecution, the
doc stated. The firearms prices included carrying, utilizing, or
aiding and abetting using weapons, together with machine weapons.
Hernandez, 53, who was changed as president final month by
leftist Xiomara Castro, has pledged to cooperate with nationwide
police. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Hernandez was set to spend the evening in a police station and
seem earlier than a court docket on Wednesday morning.
Washington’s request for extradition was in stark distinction to a
interval when the U.S. authorities noticed Hernandez as a significant ally in
risky Central America throughout his eight years in energy.
Ramon Sabillon, Honduras’ safety minister, stated that
Hernandez’s seize was a “historic” feat, though the previous
president got here out of the home and surrendered.
“The federal government has proven that it has the willpower to
adjust to the regulation,” Sabillon stated. Earlier on Tuesday, the
minister stated that Castro had ordered him to adjust to the regulation
and to maintain her knowledgeable.
Honduras’ Nationwide Police stated Hernandez was detained because of
cooperation with U.S. businesses, particularly the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA).
The U.S. State Division stated its coverage is to not touch upon
extradition requests. A spokesman for the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in
Manhattan declined to remark.