The U.S. govt has asked the arrest and extradition of Juan Orlando Hernández, the previous Honduran president who has been accused in federal court docket in New York of receiving cash from drug cartels.
The extradition request used to be despatched to the Honduran International Ministry on Monday, The Related Press reported. Hours later, cops surrounded the home of Mr. Hernández, who left workplace in January after his political birthday party used to be ousted in elections final yr.
However whether or not Mr. Hernandez can be despatched to the US continues to be observed. The Preferrred Court docket, which the previous president stacked with loyalists earlier than he left workplace, should put into effect any extradition requests.
In a federal court docket in New York final yr, one witness mentioned Mr. Hernández bragged that he used to be “‘going to stuff the medication up the gringos’ noses, they usually’re by no means even going to understand it.’”
The accusations towards Mr. Hernández were made in a minimum of two drug-trafficking instances pursued via prosecutors within the Southern District of New York.
Mr. Hernández has disputed the allegations up to now.
“It should be made transparent that that is an outrage,” mentioned Mr. Hernández’s legal professional, Hermes Ramírez, in line with native information media.
“They can not arrest him,” he mentioned, including that the previous president is Honduras’s consultant to the Central American Parliament, a regional political frame. “He enjoys immunity.”
Via dusk Monday, convoys of police pickup vans may well be observed rushing towards the previous president’s house. A neighbor residing a few block clear of Mr. Hernández mentioned that dozens of cops had surrounded the place of dwelling.
As information of the extradition request unfold throughout the capital, a minimum of 100 other people rushed to a first-rate street to rejoice the imaginable arrest of Mr. Hernández, who’s extensively disliked, and suspected of corruption.
“Juanchi, you’re off to New York!” the protesters chanted, the use of a nickname for the president.
Previous on Monday, the International Ministry mentioned on Twitter that the US had requested for the arrest of a “Honduran flesh presser” however didn’t specify who it used to be. CNN en Español showed the extradition request used to be for Mr. Hernández.
The State Division directed all questions in regards to the extradition request to the Justice Division, which didn’t straight away reply to emailed questions.
With a crippled and corrupt justice gadget, many within the area say that prosecution in the US is the one method that justice will also be served.
Most of the medication being trafficked via Latin The united states finally end up in the US, because of this that American officers can record fees in U.S. federal courts and pursue officers with extradition requests.
This kind of swift extradition request — coming simply weeks after Mr. Hernández stepped down — is bizarre, and can in all probability ship a pointed message to different governments within the area to scrub up or chance being pursued in United States courts.
Mr. Hernández’s birthday party misplaced nationwide elections final November, opening the previous president as much as prosecution in the US. The nations have an extradition treaty.
Mr. Hernández left workplace in January and used to be succeeded via Xiomara Castro, the rustic’s first feminine president. Ms. Castro has promised to cooperate with the US and combat corruption within the nation.
Tackling the well-liked graft that plagues a lot of Central The united states is a most sensible precedence for the Biden management, which sees it as a first-rate explanation why for the document selection of migrants heading towards the US’ southern border.
Vice President Kamala Harris attended Ms. Castro’s inauguration final month, and it used to be observed as a message to different Central American governments to get on board with the Biden management’s plan for the area or chance a frayed relation with the US.
The U.S. Customs and Border Coverage recorded greater than 300,000 crossings via Hondurans within the final fiscal yr, making the rustic the second-largest supply of migrants after Mexico.
Joan Suazo contributed reporting from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
