Honduras ex-president Hernandez to be extradited to US over drug trafficking

Former Central American leader is accused of having enabled the smuggling of about 500 tonnes of drugs

Former Honduran first lady and wife of former president Juan Orlando Hernandez, Ana Garcia, waves to supporters en route to the Supreme Court building in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. AP

The Honduras Supreme Court on Monday authorised the extradition of former president Juan Orlando Hernandez to the US to face charges of drug trafficking.

The court rejected an appeal by Mr Hernandez following a judge's March 16 decision to accept an extradition request by the Court of the Southern District of New York, said judiciary spokesman Melvin Duarte.

Mr Hernandez could face a life sentence if convicted.

His former congressman brother, Tony Hernandez, was sentenced to life in prison in the US in March 2021 for drug trafficking. It was during that trial that the ex-president was implicated in the illicit trade.

The former president, who held office from 2014 to 2022, is accused of having enabled the smuggling of about 500 tonnes of drugs — mainly from Colombia and Venezuela — to the US via Honduras since 2004.

US prosecutors have alleged he received millions of dollars from drug traffickers for protection — including from Mexican narco kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Mr Hernandez faces three charges: conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the US, using or carrying firearms including machine guns, and conspiracy to use or carry firearms.

On the first charge, the Supreme Court's 15 magistrates voted unanimously in favour of extradition.

For the two firearms-related charges, the vote was 13 for and two against. The court's decision cannot be appealed.

He was arrested in mid-February, less than a month after leaving the presidency, following a US extradition request.

A judge ordered his extradition in mid-March and Mr Hernandez appealed.

In a letter published on Monday, Mr Hernandez maintained that he is innocent and said he is the “victim of revenge and conspiracy".

Mr Hernandez claims that drug traffickers he helped extradite to the US have tried to take revenge by implicating him in the trade.

“Three life sentences could make me a living dead,” said Mr Hernandez, who admitted it was “painful” to be separated from his loved ones.

Juan Orlando Hernandez handcuffed at the headquarters of the Honduras Police on February 15, 2022. AFP

Once seen as a US ally in the fight against drug trafficking, Mr Hernandez now has insisted that he is the victim of “a revenge by the cartels".

He said it is “an orchestrated plot so that no government confronts them ever again".

His wife, Ana Garcia, a lawyer, joined a group of about a dozen protesters outside the courthouse in Tegucigalpa proclaiming his innocence.

“If a citizen is tried, they should be tried in our country,” said Ms Garcia.

Prosecutors in the US say Mr Hernandez and his allies turned Honduras into a narco-state.

“I never thought that this fight for peace for us Hondurans would make us viewed as a narco-state,” Mr Hernandez said in his letter. “I knew this fight would not be easy, that it was very risky.”