According to TV Azteca Honduras, the Honduran government announced late Wednesday night in a press statement that former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández would be extradited to the United States on Thursday morning. According to US authorities, the extradition will take place as soon as possible.
It was announced in a press release that Hernández will be transferred to the United States from the Hernan Acosta Mejia airstrip on Thursday morning, Eastern Standard Time (EST). According to a senior US official, authorities will extradite him to New York to face accusations related to firearms and drug trafficking. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Honduras denied Hernández’s bid to temporarily suspend the extradition, clearing the way for Hernández’s transfer to the United States.
Hernández served as president from 2014 to the end of his second term in January. In February, he was apprehended in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.
The unsealing of an indictment against him is expected to take place this week in New York. They’ve been accusing Hernández of accepting money from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting their cargo for the previous few years. He has emphatically denied any and all of the claims leveled against him.
In his view, those drug smugglers who have been extradited by his administration were driven by a desire for restitution.
Having a former head of state extradited to another country to face drug and weapon trafficking accusations is a highly unusual occurrence. In part as a result of this same type of corruption, Hernández rose to the top of a country whose residents have been moving to the United States in significant numbers. Over the preceding 20 years, the United States has provided more aid to Honduras than any other country, amounting to $125 million.