U.S. charges ex-Honduras president with cocaine-importation conspiracy

The United States has charged former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was extradited to the U.S. on Thursday, for alleged participation in a cocaine-importation conspiracy and related firearms offenses, the Justice Department said.

"The indictment alleges that Hernandez abused his positions in the Honduran government to partner with some of the largest and most violent drug traffickers in the world to traffic hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine through Honduras for distribution in the United States," the U.S. Justice Department said. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Hernandez, who led the Central American nation from 2014 to 2022, received millions of dollars from drug trafficking organizations, including from the former leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Hernandez used those funds to enrich himself and finance his political campaigns, prosecutors said.