In the surroundings of the air terminal, dozens of Hondurans gathered with turquoise blue and white flags of the country to celebrate the extradition of the former president, also accused of corruption, shouting “yes it could.”
“Let them take away this thieving man who has done us so much damage,” a woman identified as Carmen told the Televicentro television channel.
Between 800 and 1,000 members of the National Police are participating in the “Liberation Operation” to extradite Hernández, under rigorous security measures, according to Security Minister Ramón Sabillón.
Five minutes later, the FAH helicopter arrived at the Hernán Acosta Mejía Air Base, where Hernández was taken inside that military facility.
Hernández, 53 years old and who governed between 2014 and 2022, today goes down in history as the first former president of the Central American country to be required by the United States and extradited to that country, to prosecute him for drug trafficking.
The United States accuses Hernández of three charges related to drug trafficking and the use of weapons to introduce drugs into that country, according to the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa on February 15.
Then, the diplomatic legation indicated in a statement that “in total, since approximately 2004, the conspiracy transported more than approximately 500,000 kilograms of cocaine through Honduras destined for the United States.”
The first charge against Hernández brought by the United States is for “conspiracy to import a controlled substance” into that country, with the “knowledge that said substance would be illegally imported” into US territory, “into waters at a distance of 12 miles from the coast of the United States.