Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, will be extradited to the United States on Thursday morning, the Honduran government announced in a press release on Wednesday night, according to TV Azteca Honduras. US sources confirm that extradition is planned.
Hernandez, according to the statement, will be extradited Thursday at 9 a.m. ET from Hernan Acosta Mejia Air Base. He will then be taken to New York by authorities to deal with arms and drug trafficking charges, according to a senior US official. The Honduran High Court paved the way last month for Hernandez to be sent to the United States later, rejecting Hernandez’s appeal to stop the extradition.
ORLANDO SIERRA / AFP via Getty Images
Hernandez was president from 2014 until he ended his second term in January. He was arrested in February in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.
U.S. prosecutors in the southern district of New York are expected to press charges against him this week. In recent years, Hernandez has been accused of funding his political rise with the benefits of drug traffickers in exchange for protecting his shipments. He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Hernandez has insisted that the statements against him were made by drug traffickers extradited by his government who wanted revenge.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
It is extremely unusual for a former head of state to be extradited to another country to be prosecuted for drug and arms trafficking. In this case, Hernandez was the leader of a country whose residents have fled en masse to the United States because, in part, of this same type of corruption. Honduras is also a major recipient of US aid: for the past 20 years, the United States has given more aid to Honduras ($ 125 million) than any other country.
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