JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ

He appeared virtually in federal court to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the U.S.

He appeared virtually in federal court to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the U.S.

Honduras' Supreme Court approved the extradition of Hernandez to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez) (Elmer Martinez)NEW YORK — (AP) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was expected to make a virtual appearance in federal court in New York on Friday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited overnight to the United States. Hernández boarded an airplane in Honduras with agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday, just three months after leaving office. Honduras’ Supreme Court rejected his appeal of a judge’s decision favoring extradition. His court appearance Friday in New York was expected to be virtual because of COVID-19 protocols, authorities said.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has appeared virtually in federal court in New York to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the United States.

APTOPIX Honduras Hernandez Extradition Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, center, is taken in handcuffs to a waiting aircraft as he is extradited to the United States, at an Air Force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Honduras' Supreme Court approved the extradition of Hernandez to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. He was charged with participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. “Drug trafficking fuels violent crime and addiction; it devastates families, and it ravages communities,” Garland said. Castro campaigned on rooting out Honduras’ corruption and Hernández was seen as the largest target.

APTOPIX Honduras Hernandez Extradition Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, center, is taken in handcuffs to a waiting aircraft as he is extradited to the United States, at an Air Force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Honduras' Supreme Court approved the extradition of Hernandez to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez) (Elmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — (AP) — Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges in a dramatic reversal for a leader once touted by U.S. authorities as a key ally in the war on the drugs. Castro campaigned on rooting out Honduras’ corruption and Hernández was seen as the largest target. U.S. prosecutors allege Bonilla assisted the movement of tons of cocaine through Honduras, working with Hernández and his brother Tony Hernández, both co-conspirators in the case in the Southern District of New York.

Honduras Hernandez Extradition Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, right, is escorted in handcuffs by soldiers and police as they arrive to an Air Force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Honduras’ Supreme Court approved the extradition of Hernández to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez) (Elmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — (AP) — Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges in a dramatic reversal for a leader once touted by U.S. authorities as a key ally in the war on the drugs. Juan Orlando Hernández took office in January 2014 and held the presidency until this January, when Xiomara Castro was sworn in as his replacement. Castro campaigned on rooting out Honduras’ corruption and Hernández was seen as the largest target.

Honduras has extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges.

A court in Honduras has authorized prosecutors to seize properties, bank accounts and vehicles linked to former President Juan Orlando Hernández.

A judge in Honduras has ruled that former President Juan Orlando Hernández should be extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Both men were part of a sprawling drug trafficking case first filed back in 2015. They were both convicted on drug trafficking charges and given life sentences — Fuentes Ramírez just last week. Prosecutors have labeled Juan Orlando Hernández a “co-conspirator” in the same case. They include conspiracy to import drugs to the United States, using firearms in support of a drug trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to use firearms in support of drug trafficking. Juan Orlando Hernández took office Jan. 27, 2014.

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández was arrested at the request of the United States on drug trafficking charges Tuesday and a Honduran judge will decide if he is eventually extradited to stand trial in the U.S. While Hernández was president, he was untouchable for Honduras’ co-opted justice system and successive U.S. administrations made no move alienate him.

Hondudas Corruption Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, center in chains, is shown to the press at the Police Headquarters in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Álvarez said he lost his job in a wire factory during Hernández’s presidency because the president raised taxes. Another migrant, Zayda Vayadares, hadn’t even heard of Hernández’s arrest, but expressed joy. “It’s really what we expected.”Still, the images of the handcuffed former president were hard to watch. ___Associated Press writer Marlon González reported this story in Tegucigalpa and AP writer Christopher Sherman reported from Mexico City.

The arrest of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández and the images of a leader shackled and paraded before cameras like a common criminal are a stunning reversal for a man who for years seemed impervious to growing allegations of corruption.

Honduras Corruption Special Forces Police set up barriers near the house of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, late Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. After years of speculation in Honduras, the United States formally requested the arrest and extradition of Hernández less than three weeks after he left office. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez) (Elmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — (AP) — Police arrested former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández at his home on Tuesday, following a request by the United States government for his extradition on drug trafficking and weapons charges. His brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández was sentenced to life in prison on drug and weapons charges in March 2021. If the judge rules for extradition, Hernández would have three days to appeal.

Honduras Corruption Special Forces Police set up barriers near the house of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, late Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. After years of speculation in Honduras, the United States formally requested the arrest and extradition of Hernández less than three weeks after he left office. The Supreme Court of Justice designated a judge to handle the case and hours later the judge signed an order for Hernández's arrest, said court spokesman Melvin Duarte. Once an arrest order is issued, Hernández would have to turn himself in or be forcibly taken into custody, he said. If the judge rules for extradition, Hernández would have three days to appeal.

The U.S. government is formally requesting on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, the arrest and extradition of ex-president Hernandez. Various contingents of the National Police, including special forces, as well as military police were present around Hernández’s neighborhood Monday night. But U.S. prosecutors have alleged that he was taking bribes from drug traffickers on the promise of protecting them once he was Honduras’ president. Hernández used a friendly Supreme Court to overcome Honduras’ constitutional ban on reelection and won a second term in 2017 in elections marred by irregularities. Around midnight Monday, 56-year-old Jorge Arturo Vega, a supporter of Castro’s Liberty and Refoundation party, stood outside a police barricade at Hernández’s neighborhood celebrating.

The U.S. government is formally requesting on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, the arrest and extradition of ex-president Hernandez. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin,File) (Jacquelyn Martin)TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — (AP) — After years of speculation in Honduras, the United States formally requested the arrest and extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernández less than three weeks after he left office. Various contingents of the National Police, including special forces, as well as military police were present around Hernández’s neighborhood Monday night. But U.S. prosecutors have alleged that he was taking bribes from drug traffickers on the promise of protecting them once he was Honduras’ president. Around midnight Monday, 56-year-old Jorge Arturo Vega, a supporter of Castro’s Liberty and Refoundation party, stood outside a police barricade at Hernández’s neighborhood celebrating.

The United States has formally requested the arrest and extradition of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on drug and weapons charges less than three weeks after he left office.

Police have arrested former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a step toward fulfilling a request by the United States government for his extradition on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

US Honduras FILE - Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez answers questions from the Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019, as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. The U.S. government is formally requesting on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, the arrest and extradition of ex-president Hernandez. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin,File) (Jacquelyn Martin)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The United States has asked Honduras to arrest former President Juan Orlando Hernández for his eventual extradition to the U.S., officials confirmed Monday. But Honduras' current vice president, Salvador Nasralla, confirmed to The Associated Press that request names Hernández. CNN en Español first reported that the politician was Hernández, showing the communication from the ministry to the court naming Hernández.

The Biden administration last year quietly placed former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on a classified list of officials suspected of corruption or undermining democracy in Central America.

Xiomara Castro has been sworn in as Honduras’ first female president amid a sea of waving flags in the national stadium.

Hondurans will vote Sunday to replace corrupt President Juan Orlando Hernandez in what is arguably the country's most important election in decades.

Aides to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele say he's refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat over what he sees as a pattern of slights from Democrats and the Biden administration.

“The defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernández, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy,” prosecutors wrote. AdThe U.S. government wants Tony Hernández to give up $138.5 million in “blood money” from his drug trafficking and pay an additional $10 million fine. They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras’ military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras. They allege that among those bribes was $1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to Juan Orlando Hernández. In those, Fuentes admitted knowing drug traffickers but denied having paid any money to president Hernández.

The accountant said he felt fear seeing Hernández and a drug trafficker sitting at the same table. “I was seeing the candidate for the presidency meeting with a drug trafficker,” he said. That alleged drug trafficker was Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, whose New York trial is in its second week. The accountant testified that that movement of drugs would be done with the help of the military and police. In another meeting at the company’s offices without Fuentes Ramírez present, Hernández boasted about siphoning money from Honduras’ social security system, the accountant testified.

(AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)TEGUCIGALPA – Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández’s name keeps popping up in the New York trial of an alleged drug trafficker. And one of the candidates running to replace him in Sunday’s primary elections has been convicted in the same court of laundering money for the same cartel. Polls closed at 5 p.m. and the vote count had begun, but there was no immediate word on when results would be available. Political analyst and three-time former presidential candidate Olban Valladares said the elections are an opportunity for Hondurans to begin to free themselves of failed leaders. But voters will also choose the candidates who will compete for the 128 seats of the National Congress in November, as well as 298 local governments and other positions.

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020, file photo, Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City. AdThe accusation came in the third day of testimony in the trial of alleged drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez. U.S. prosecutors have made it clear that allegations against President Hernández would arise during the trial, though he has not been charged. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Alvarez said that he had never taken money from Rivera Maradiaga, who called the politicians he allegedly bribed “narco-politicians.”Ad“I don’t have anything to hide,” Alvarez wrote.

“They plotted to send as much cocaine as possible to the United States,” Gutwillig said of the president and Fuentes Ramírez. But much of the prosecutors’ artillery appears aimed at Hernández, who they said helped Fuentes Ramírez’s drug trafficking along with other high-ranking officials. Prosecutors have previously said that Fuentes Ramírez paid Hernández $25,000 to be allowed to move drugs through the country without interference. He says that the allegations against him come from drug traffickers seeking revenge and looking to lighten their sentences. He has said Fuentes Ramírez had weapons and body guards because Honduras is a dangerous country.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming trial suggesting the president himself was under investigation. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández warned Wednesday that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” in U.S. courts accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. He suggested that traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them take vengeance on the Honduran officials pursuing them. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)MEXICO CITY – Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. government’s relationship with Honduras must change. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship.

(UNTV via AP)NEW YORK – U.S. federal prosecutors have filed motions saying that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country's armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States. The documents quote Hernández as saying he wanted to “'shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos' by flooding the United States with cocaine." The motions filed Friday with the U.S. Southern District of New York do not specifically name the president, referring to him as “CC-4,” or co-conspirator No. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — an accusation repeated in the new motions. At this time, CC-4 was pursuing election as the President of Honduras as a member of the Partido Nacional de Honduras (the “National Party”),” the motion said.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he meets Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday. DONALD TRUMPPresident Donald Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The number of new hospitalizations for COVID-19 and virus deaths in Britain are rising again, although both remain far below their springtime peak. (Jack Hill/Pool Photo via AP)JOHANNESBURG – President Donald Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a small group of world leaders who have been infected. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19. JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZThe Honduras president announced in June that he and his wife had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with them. Cabinet members have tested positive too.

Even as the Trump administration moved ahead on a controversial immigration agreement with the Honduran government, U.S. law enforcement has indicted another senior Honduran official on drug-trafficking charges that implicate the countrys president. AdvertisementThe president, who has denied wrongdoing, has continued to maintain close relations with the White House and has been received in the Oval Office by President Trump on several occasions. On Thursday, the Trump administration took a step toward implementing that agreement by publishing it in the Federal Register. The Trump administration appears to be moving toward relying more heavily on Honduras to take the migrants it doesnt want. Critics of the Trump administration were quick to note the dichotomy between how it deals with the Honduran president on immigration and how federal prosecutors view him.

When it comes to supplying ventilators and other coronavirus aid to Central America, Trump administration officials say they are not playing favorites. AdvertisementJust spoke to President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, Trump tweeted. The Trump administration has refused to condemn what many in El Salvador and the rest of Latin America see as Bukeles increasingly autocratic tendencies. Kozak said administration officials have given constructive advice to the parties in El Salvador but have chosen not to make public pronouncements. But the Trump administration has cut off its funding to one of the other main champions in the battle, the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias in favor of China.

REUTERS/Jorge CabreraWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has temporarily barred New Yorkers from several programs expediting security checks when they enter the United States, widening a dispute over a New York state law limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told reporters the states lack of security cooperation with federal immigration authorities necessitated the suspension of such travel programs as one known as Global Entry. He assailed the state over a law passed last year limiting the information the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which issues drivers licenses, could share with federal immigration authorities. U.S. President Donald Trump has made his immigration crackdown a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign. Trump criticized so-called sanctuary jurisdictions during his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.

REUTERS/Jorge CabreraWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will block New York state residents from most of its trusted traveler programs in response to a state law that limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Wednesday. DHS will suspend the ability of the states residents to enroll or re-enroll in programs such as Global Entry, which allows faster processing for pre-approved travelers entering the United States, Wolf said in a related letter to New York State officials. The suspension will also apply to programs that allow for expedited travel to Canada and Mexico, as well as a program for commercial truck drivers. Trump criticized so-called sanctuary jurisdictions during his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. Wolf singled out a New York law that blocks the states motor vehicles department from sharing information with immigration enforcement agencies, saying the lack of security cooperation from the state necessitated the suspension of the travel programs.

A president in Latin America skirts term limits to run for office again. AdvertisementGeopolitical concerns, of course, have often beat out principle when it comes to U.S. policy in Latin America, most notably when the region was a Cold War battleground. There, the Trump administration opposed Evo Morales, the left-wing indigenous leader who has frequently denounced what he considers U.S. imperialism in the region. Trujillo, a 36-year-old former state representative in Florida, was appointed to his post months after the Honduras election controversy. The Trump administration would like to remove Nicolas Maduro, the countrys socialist president, saying it seeks to restore democracy.

Homeland Security Kevin K. McAleenan shakes hands with Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez before a bilateral meeting at Soto Cano Air Base in Comayagua, Honduras July 2, 2019. Presidency Honduras/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States and Honduras are discussing how to increase temporary legal employment opportunities for Hondurans in the United States, as the governments work to hammer out details of an immigration agreement. Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan has waged a campaign in recent months to seal immigration deals with the Northern Triangle countries of Central America - Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - from where many immigrants arriving at the U.S. southern border set out. Guatemala has signed a so-called safe third country deal with the United States that requires asylum seekers who travel through Guatemala on the way to the U.S.-Mexico border to ask for refuge in Guatemala first, instead of in the United States. They recognize Honduras progress in the areas of security and migration.

CNN videoTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Dead protesters, a "failed state" and accusations of high-level drug trafficking. While many Hondurans continue to leave the country in search of a new life, members of a variety of groups from across society are making their feelings known in the streets. His brother Antonio was arrested by US investigators on drug trafficking charges in November 2018, but he has denied the charges. Violence has flared during the recent protests after Hernandez put soldiers on the streets, leading to widespread condemnation. Honduras saw homicide rates more than double between 2005 and 2010, and became the world's most murderous country in 2012.