They reject protection of Juan Orlando Hernández against his extradition 2:45
(CNN Spanish) --
The spokesman for the Honduran Judiciary informed CNN that a judge appointed by the Supreme Court approved the extradition of former National Police Director Juan Carlos Bonilla to the United States to answer several accusations.
The spokesman, Melvin Duarte, said that the natural judge made the decision after evaluating the evidence in the evidence proposal hearing held this Friday.
Duarte added that the former police chief will remain in a cell in the First Infantry Battalion located north of Tegucigalpa, where he has been since he was arrested on March 9.
They reject an appeal for amparo filed by former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández to avoid extradition to the US.
Bonilla has repeatedly declared himself innocent of the charges brought against him by the US justice system.
Neither he nor his public defender have commented on the resolution issued and they have until Monday, April 11, to appeal the ruling.
CNN has contacted the Public Defender's Office, where they have responded that for now they will not comment.
Juan Carlos Bonilla at the time of his capture.
Credit: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images
According to the Secretary of Security, Ramón Sabillón, the arrest of "El Tigre Bonilla" as the former director of the Police in the country is popularly known, responds to the extradition request presented by the US in May 2021, which accuses him of having allegedly participated in three crimes related to drug trafficking.
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The case against the former official dates back to April 2020 when the prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, and the DEA special agent, Wendy Woolcock, announced in a statement that Bonilla was accused of conspiring to import cocaine to the US and weapons-related crimes, involving the use and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
The statement further stated that Bonilla would have abused his position and flouted the law in a violent international drug trafficking conspiracy on behalf of convicted former Honduran legislator Tony Hernández and his brother, the then president of Honduras.
Bonilla is also accused of murdering a rival trafficker to further the conspiracy.
Bonilla was chief of the Honduran National Police between 2012 and 2013, during the government of Porfirio Lobo Sosa.