Juan Orlando Hernández, Former President of Honduras, Indicted on Drug-Trafficking and Firearms Charges, Extradited to the United States from Honduras

“So far, this investigation has led to the conviction of numerous Honduran drug traffickers who were responsible for the importation of over 500,000 kilograms of cocaine into the United States as well as dozens of foreign murders,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Drug trafficking fuels violent crime and addiction; it devastates families, and it ravages communities. The Justice Department is committed to disrupting the entire ecosystem of drug trafficking networks that harm the American people, no matter how far or how high we must go.”

“The charges we announce today seek to finally hold Juan Orlando Hernández accountable for years of corruption, years of violence, and years of drug trafficking,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams. “We allege that for over a decade Hernandez abused his positions in the Honduran government, including as President, to partner with and take millions of dollars of bribes from some of the World’s most notorious drug traffickers.”

“The United States is in the midst of an unprecedented and devastating overdose epidemic,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “Every five minutes, an American is dying of a drug overdose. The vast majority of the drugs that are killing Americans are not homegrown, they come from abroad. This epidemic is being driven by international drug cartels that profit from the sale of deadly drugs in American communities.”