The United States has made its position very clear on the fight against drug trafficking, which is why it has gone after the most important cartels and their collaborators, who are sometimes high-profile officials from different countries, who have been convicted, the most recent case It is that of the former president of Honduras.
Juan Orlando Hernandez He was found guilty of three counts of drug trafficking, including conspiring with drug traffickers and using his military and police forces to facilitate the entry of tons of cocaine into the U.S. According to the AP, the accusations detail how his collaboration began. in the world of drugs.
It was in 2004, as he rose in political positions he became bigger, and he is also accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes and having had dealings with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, who allegedly financed his 2014 presidential campaign in exchange for protection from possible extradition.
As happened with other officials, the former president of Honduras visited the White House and presented himself as a politician committed to the fight against drug trafficking. In addition, he shared criminal ties with some other “white collar” defendants.
Other high-profile officials
Genaro García Luna He was known as the “Superpoliceman”, the anti-drug czar, the star of the War on Drugs in Mexico, but behind that appearance was a corrupt man who with one hand made pacts with criminals and with the other swept their way by eliminating his enemies. enemies.
Like Juan Orlando Hernández, he had ties to the Sinaloa Cartelseveral former drug traffickers testified against him and he was found guilty of five counts of drug trafficking in February 2023, he is awaiting sentencing.
Manuel Antonio Noriegaa former military leader from Panama is another of those who were convicted of drug trafficking in the United States. While collaborating with the American justice system, he trafficked cocaine, for which he was convicted in this country. France also convicted him of drug trafficking, according to The New York Times. .
He returned to his native country in 2011 and was imprisoned accused of murder, money laundering and corruption related to when he was in power. He died in 2017, in a hospital, although he was under house arrest.
Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandezbrother of Juan Orlando Hernández, who was a deputy in Honduras, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States in March 2021. He is accused of drug trafficking for exporting tons of cocaine to the country, in addition to being responsible for brutal acts of violence and murders .
According to El Heraldo de Honduras, Tony Hernández conspired to carry out drug exports and is also accused of making false statements before the law.
Keep reading:
– Juan Orlando Hernández’s lawyer regrets that in the US they believe in “the words of psychopaths and thugs.”
– The former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty of drug trafficking.