Tony Hernandez formed relationships with narcotraffickers using his family’s political influence to provide information in exchange for bribes.
A federal prosecutor alleged that Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman personally delivered US$1 million to Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH).
According to prosecutor Jason Richman’s accusation, in exchange for the delivery of bribes to JOH, Tony Hernandez -brother of the current head of state- received protection from the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, recently sentenced to life imprisonment for cocaine, heroin and marijuana trafficking to the US, laundering of money and violence with firearms.
In a court filing, prosecutors said that for a decade, Juan Orlando Hernandez and other top Honduran politicians and officials “relied on drug proceeds to fund National Party campaigns, and other political operations, to control large swaths of the Honduran government, to bribe officials who helped ensure safe passage for their cocaine.”
According to the evidence presented by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, in 2004 Tony Hernandez formed relationships with narcotraffickers using his family’s political influence to provide them with in exchange for bribes, “information about law enforcement activities and operations so that the traffickers could transport cocaine through Honduras without incident.”
Hernadez continues to deny all allegations, saying that they are attacks made by drug traffickers. Despite implications against JOH in the document, prosecutors have not accused him of any crime in the U.S.
This article originally appeared on teleSUR English.
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