An American jury convicted former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández on charges relating to cocaine and weapons trafficking Friday, according to a press release by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Hernández and his co-conspirators funneled over 400 tons of cocaine to the United States from just his time in office alone in exchange for millions in drug money from cartels, the DOJ said. The illicit scheme had been in operation from 2004 to 2022. (RELATED: Honduran Nationals Accused Of Running Fentanyl Trafficking Rings In Major US Cities)
“Juan Orlando Hernández abused his position as President of Honduras to operate the country as a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed to operate with virtual impunity, and the people of Honduras and the United States were forced to suffer the consequences,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said, according to the DOJ statement.
Juan Orlando Hernández, Former President of Honduras, Convicted in Manhattan Federal Court of Conspiring to Import Cocaine into the United States and Related Firearms Offenses
🔗: https://t.co/n9nep0loN9 pic.twitter.com/3EaqqVUhcU
— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) March 8, 2024
Hernández was the Honduran head of state from 2014 to 2022 and had run as a law-and-order candidate, the BBC reported. The jury convicted the former leader after two days of deliberation.
Hernández used his ill-gotten gains to further his political career in Honduras, according to the DOJ.
Hernández claimed that this prosecution was politically motivated and that he was a “victim of a vendetta and a conspiracy by organised crime and political enemies,” the BBC reported.
Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said that Hernández worked ” hand-in-hand” with “the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel” in this scheme, according to the press release.
“It is my sincere hope that this conviction sends a message to all corrupt politicians who would consider a similar path: choose differently. My office will stop at nothing to investigate and prosecute those responsible for sending poison to this community, no matter their status or political power,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, added.
Hernández faces up to a life sentence in prison, according to the DOJ. He is slated to be sentenced June 26.