TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The U.S. authorities has requested the arrest and extradition of Juan Orlando Hernández, the previous Honduran president who has been accused in federal courtroom in New York of receiving cash from drug cartels.
The extradition request was despatched to the Honduran Foreign Ministry on Monday, in accordance with a ministry official. Hours later, law enforcement officials surrounded the home of Mr. Hernández, who left workplace in January after his political celebration was ousted in elections final yr.
But whether or not Mr. Hernandez will probably be despatched to the United States stays to be seen. The Supreme Court, which the previous president stacked with loyalists earlier than he left workplace, should implement any extradition requests.
In a federal courtroom in New York final yr, one witness mentioned Mr. Hernández bragged that he was “‘going to stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses, and they’re never even going to know it.’”
The accusations in opposition to Mr. Hernández have been made in no less than two drug-trafficking instances pursued by prosecutors within the Southern District of New York.
Mr. Hernández has disputed the allegations prior to now.
“It must be made clear that this is an outrage,” mentioned Mr. Hernández’s legal professional, Hermes Ramírez, in accordance with native information media.
“They cannot arrest him,” he mentioned, including that the previous president is Honduras’s consultant to the Central American Parliament, a regional political physique. “He enjoys immunity.”
By dusk Monday, convoys of police pickup vans may very well be seen rushing towards the previous president’s dwelling. A neighbor residing a few block away from Mr. Hernández mentioned that dozens of law enforcement officials had surrounded the residence.
As information of the extradition request unfold by way of the capital, no less than 100 individuals rushed to a essential boulevard to have fun the attainable arrest of Mr. Hernández, who’s broadly disliked, and suspected of corruption.
“Juanchi, you’re off to New York!” the protesters chanted, utilizing a nickname for the president.
Earlier on Monday, the Foreign Ministry mentioned on Twitter that the United States had requested for the arrest of a “Honduran politician” however didn’t specify who it was. CNN en Español confirmed the extradition request was for Mr. Hernández.
The State Department directed all questions concerning the extradition request to the Justice Department, which didn’t instantly reply to emailed questions.
With a crippled and corrupt justice system, many within the area say that prosecution within the United States is the one method that justice might be served.
Many of the medicine being trafficked by way of Latin America find yourself within the United States, which signifies that American officers can file costs in U.S. federal courts and pursue officers with extradition requests.
Such a swift extradition request — coming simply weeks after Mr. Hernández stepped down — is uncommon, and can almost certainly ship a pointed message to different governments within the area to scrub up or danger being pursued in United States courts.
Mr. Hernández’s celebration misplaced nationwide elections final November, opening the previous president as much as prosecution within the United States. The international locations have an extradition treaty.
Mr. Hernández left workplace in January and was succeeded by Xiomara Castro, the nation’s first feminine president. Ms. Castro has promised to cooperate with the United States and combat corruption within the nation.
Tackling the widespread graft that plagues a lot of Central America is a prime precedence for the Biden administration, which sees it as a essential purpose for the file variety of migrants heading towards the United States’ southern border.
Vice President Kamala Harris attended Ms. Castro’s inauguration final month, and it was seen as a message to different Central American governments to get on board with the Biden administration’s plan for the area or danger a frayed relation with the United States.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded greater than 300,000 crossings by Hondurans within the final fiscal yr, making the nation the second-largest supply of migrants after Mexico.