Honduran ex-president in court as US seeks extradition

Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States, appeared Wednesday before a judge in Tegucigalpa who will decide whether to extradite him.

Hernandez, who was still in office just three weeks ago, was brought to court in a convoy that included armored vehicles and a helicopter from the police station where he had spent the night.

Outside the court building, supporters from his rightwing National Party (NP) shouted, "He is not alone!" while backers of the leftist Libre party that recently ousted the NP from power celebrated Hernandez's fall from grace.

The 53-year-old is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of drugs mainly from Colombia and Venezuela to the United States via Honduras from 2004 until as recently as this year.

In turn, he allegedly received "millions of dollars in bribes... from multiple narcotrafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico and other places," according to a document from the US embassy in Tegucigalpa.

The judge -- whose name authorities are withholding for his own protection -- would on Wednesday inform Hernandez of the claims made against him by the United States, so that he can present a defense, judicial spokesman Melvin Duarte said.

Previous extradition requests had taken no more than four months to adjudicate, he added.

Hernandez surrendered to police, hours after the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Hernandez vowed to cooperate with domestic authorities, saying in an audio message on Twitter he was ready to appear in court and "defend myself."

Though Hernandez had portrayed himself as an ally of the US war on drugs during his tenure, traffickers caught in the United States claimed to have paid bribes to the president's inner circle.

Alleged associate Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was sentenced in the United States last week to life in prison and a fine of $151.7 million for smuggling tons of cocaine into the country -- with Hernandez's aid, according to prosecutors.

Hernandez's brother, former Honduran congress man Tony Hernandez, was given a life sentence in the United States in March 2021 for drug trafficking.