Ex-president of Honduras sentenced to 45 years in prison for cocaine smuggling
Beside his prison sentence, Hernández was ordered to pay a fine of eight million dollars. The lawyers of the former head of state had previously announced that their client would appeal the sentence before it was announced.
Hernández was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. Since 2004, it has been alleged that he was involved in drug trafficking. The indictment accused him of facilitating the transport of cocaine primarily from Colombia and Venezuela through Honduras to the USA.
The prosecution spoke of a "cocaine highway" that Hernández had paved for the trafficking. It is alleged that he even provided police and military protection for drug deliveries.
Hernández is said to have taken millions in bribes, particularly from the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is currently serving a life sentence in a US maximum security prison. The money was reportedly used by Hernández to enrich himself personally, finance his campaign, and commit electoral fraud.
Shortly after the end of his term in office in 2022, Hernández was extradited to the USA. In the trial, he denied all the accusations and presented himself as a regional role model in the fight against drug cartels. However, numerous former drug traffickers testified against him in court.
In the past few years, several other former Latin American heads of state have been convicted in the USA. Among them were Manuel Noriega, the former president of Panama (in 1992), and Alfonso Portillo, the former president of Guatemala (in 2014).
- Juan Orlando Hernández, the Ex-President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his involvement in cocaine smuggling and drug trafficking, and ordered to pay a fine of eight million dollars.
- The public prosecutor's office in the USA accused Hernández of facilitating the transport of cocaine primarily from Colombia and Venezuela through Honduras to the USA, creating a "cocaine highway" for the trafficking.
- It is alleged that Hernández even provided police and military protection for drug deliveries, taking millions in bribes, particularly from the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
- The money was reportedly used by Hernández to enrich himself personally, finance his campaign, and commit electoral fraud.
- Soon after the end of his term in office in 2022, Hernández was extradited to the USA, where he denied all accusations and presented himself as a regional role model in the fight against drug cartels.
- However, numerous former drug traffickers testified against him in court, leading to his conviction in the USA, following a similar fate as Manuel Noriega, the former president of Panama, who was convicted in 1992, and Alfonso Portillo, the former president of Guatemala, who was convicted in 2014.
- Hernández's long legal battle and imprisonment in the USA is a reminder of the ongoing fight against drug trafficking in Latin America, a challenge that still spans across countries.
