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Hernández after his arrest in Tegucigalpa
Photo: Inti Ocon / dpa
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, wanted by the United States for alleged involvement in the drug trade, has turned himself in to the police.
Wearing a bulletproof vest and handcuffs, he was taken from his home in Tegucigalpa by police officers on Tuesday (local time).
An arrest warrant was issued for him after the United States requested his extradition.
The US government has accused the 53-year-old of being involved in smuggling 500 tons of cocaine through Honduras.
Drug dealers arrested in the United States had testified that they had paid bribes to close confidants of the former head of state.
An alleged accomplice of Hernández was sentenced to life in prison and fined around $151 million (€133 million) in the United States last week for cocaine smuggling.
The ex-president's brother, former Honduran MP Tony Hernández, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States in March 2021 for drug trafficking.
In the trial, US prosecutors said the then-president received millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers such as former Mexico Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
Ex-President Hernández was described in the trial as a "co-conspirator" of his brother.
Hernández' alleged role in smuggling drugs into the United States was also raised in two other US lawsuits against Honduran drug traffickers.
Hernández speaks of revenge plan
Hernández left office late last month.
The 53-year-old denies the allegations and describes them as part of a revenge plan by drug lords against which his government has taken action.
The ex-president's lawyers insist that Hernández enjoys immunity as a member of the Central American Parliament.
However, according to national regulations, Honduran members of the international parliament do not enjoy protection from criminal prosecution.
Dozens of people celebrated his forthcoming extradition in front of Hernández's house on Tuesday.
There were also spontaneous demonstrations in other cities celebrating the ex-president's arrest.
mrc/AFP
