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Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez has denied involvement in cocaine trafficking Through diplomatic channels When asked if he took bribes from figures like El Chapo, Hernandez replied simply: “Never.” A jury has since found him guilty on all three charges he faced. Earlier this week, he, too, appeared on the witness stand, refuting any allegations of wrongdoing. Hernandez, however, has pleaded not guilty to the drug trafficking and weapons charges he faced. He was extradited to the US in 2022, shortly after completing his second term in office. Najera, for instance, was said to have used his government office to tip off Perez whenever a police operation threatened his cocaine business.Īs for Hernandez - a conservative president popularly known by his initials JOH - US prosecutors say he transformed Honduras into a “narco-state”, partnering with “some of the world’s most prolific narcotics traffickers to build a corrupt and brutally violent empire”. In both the cases of Najera and former President Hernandez, Perez accused Honduran officials of seeking campaign contributions in exchange for their participation in the drug smuggling. Perez was introduced as “Alexander Monroy-Murillo” at the time of the trial, a Sinaloa strongman operating in Honduras. Nájera has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He previously testified in the 2022 trial against former Honduran congress member Fredy Najera, who was accused of “operating a large-scale narcotics trafficking organisation”. He has since acted as a cooperating witness for US prosecutors, who shield his identity for his safety. He served 65 months for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, down from a possible sentence of 135 months - more than 11 years. Though it was not clear why he turned himself in to US authorities, he said that he left because “the US and Honduran authorities started surveilling people closest to us.” His buyers allegedly included Mexican drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, both leaders in the Sinaloa cartel.īut in 2015, Perez turned himself in to US authorities, in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Perez, by his own admission, trafficked 200,000 kilogrammes (441,000 pounds) of cocaine from Colombia to northwest Honduras over a period of seven years, starting in 2008.
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Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to the United States on Ap Government officials on trial And Perez’s allegations could not be independently verified.īut experts told Al Jazeera the testimony raised wider questions about Israel’s involvement in Latin America - and how government and drug smuggling in the region have intertwined. Israeli embassy officials in Colombia declined to comment for Al Jazeera’s story. Perez, who was affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel, accused the unnamed official of laundering between $100m and $150m between 20. “The woman who transported money for us from Honduras to Colombia was an official in the Israeli embassy.” “We worked with officials at the Israeli embassy,” Perez told defence lawyer Raymond Colon in Spanish while on the stand. Originally from Colombia, Perez appeared in a United States district court in New York to testify against Hernandez, whom he accused of being involved in drug trafficking operations.īut as the defence team cross-examined Perez about his relationship with Hernandez, he revealed another alleged participant in the scheme: the Israeli embassy in Colombia. On the witness stand sat a convicted drug trafficker, going by the pseudonym Luis Perez. Keep reading list of 3 items list 1 of 3 More than 40 women killed in Honduran prison riot list 2 of 3 Honduran armed forces seize control of prisons to stamp out gangs list 3 of 3 Honduras cuts ties with Taiwan, opens relations with China end of list