U.S. seeks extradition of former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández on drug charges, senior Honduran officials say

For years, allegations against Hernández mounted in U.S. court filings, as prosecutors charged members of the Honduran political elite with using state resources to traffic drugs to the United States. One of those cases was against Hernández’s brother, Tony Hernández, who was sentenced last year to life in prison on drug trafficking charges.

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Prosecutors in that case said that Juan Orlando Hernández agreed “to facilitate the use of Honduran armed forces personnel as security” for drug traffickers. In another court filing, Hernández is quoted based on witness testimony as saying he wanted to shove drugs “right up the noses of the gringos” by flooding the United States with cocaine.

The extradition request is likely to become an explosive issue in Honduras, where Hernández’s party still exercises significant political power, waging influence over the country’s Supreme Court. It is members of the court who under Honduran law will rule on the U.S. request. The judges are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning.

With police surrounding his house early Tuesday morning, Hernandez posted an audio message on Twitter.

“It is not an easy time. I don’t wish this to anyone," he said. “But this message’s purpose is also to say that the national police, through my attorneys, have received the message that I am set and ready to cooperate and voluntarily arrive — with their escort — the moment that the natural judge appointed by the honorable Supreme Court decides, so I can face this situation and defend myself.”

In a letter shared with The Washington Post, the Honduran Foreign Ministry addressed the country’s Supreme Court on Monday, referring to the “formal request for the provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition to the United States of America of Juan Orlando Hernández.”

In a U.S. diplomatic note shared with The Post and addressed to the Honduran Foreign Ministry, the United States says Hernández “is wanted to stand trial in the United States for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.”

The Honduran Department of Justice declined to comment. The U.S. State Department referred questions to the Department of Justice.

“We have to wait for the Supreme Court to rule,” said a senior official in the Castro government, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. “There are no charges against Hernández in Honduras.”

While some took to the streets of major cities, waving flags and chanting to celebrate the extradition request, Honduran officials expressed concern that Hernández could work through his allies to potentially block it.

“The judges on the court are people Hernández appointed, so it’s difficult to know what kind of choice they’re going to make,” said the senior official.

Another concern within the Honduran government is that with a delay in the Supreme Court’s decision, Hernández could attempt to leave the country.

“We still have the risk that he could escape, and that would make our administration look bad,” the senior official said.

Honduran officials said they worried he might try to flee to Nicaragua, which, under Daniel Ortega, has long flouted the demands and objections of the United States. Late Monday night, local television news outlets showed a large number of Honduran law enforcement personnel apparently outside of Hernández’s home in Tegucigalpa.

Honduran officials said they were not attempting to arrest him, but to prevent him from fleeing. The Supreme Court released a statement saying judges would meet Tuesday morning to address a U.S. request for extradition. The statement did not mention Hernández by name.

Luis Suazo, the former Honduran ambassador to the United States under Hernández, said he had not received confirmation of the extradition request. Hernández could not be reached for comment.

After a split within her party, Castro, who took office last month, does not control the country’s congress. Her election was seen by many in the U.S. government as a hopeful sign for the country, from which hundreds of thousands of migrants have left in recent years. “Fuera la narcodictadura” — “Get the narcodictatorship out” — became a rallying cry for many of those who remained.

Vice President Harris, who attended Castro’s inauguration last month, had reportedly asked members of the U.S. government why Hernández hadn’t already been extradited. The United States doesn’t typically attempt to extradite sitting heads of state.

Hernández was a longtime U.S. ally and a particularly close partner of the Trump administration. With President Donald Trump in office, Hernández’s administration agreed to help stop Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the United States.

“President Hernández is working with the United States very closely,” Trump said in December 2019. “You know what’s going on on our southern border. And we’re winning after years and years of losing.”

The State Department announced this month that it was barring Hernández from entering the United States. It cited “multiple, credible media reports” in accusing Hernández of engaging “in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking, and using the proceeds of illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns.”

Hernández has denied those allegations. In response to the State Department ban, he said on Twitter that many accusations came from “drug traffickers and confessed assassins who were extradited by my government or had to flee and hand themselves in to U.S. authorities for fear of being extradited.”

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