Juan Antonio Hernández, brother of the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was accused of trafficking tons of cocaine to the United States, according to the US Department of Justice.
The former Honduran congressman, who was arrested on Friday in Miami suspected of links to drug trafficking, also faces charges in the US justice system for use and possession of weapons, as well as for making false statements to federal agents, said the prosecutor’s office of the Southern District of Nueva York in a statement.
Manhattan federal prosecutor, Geoffrey Berman, said Hernández allegedly organized and guaranteed the safety of cocaine shipments, bribed officials to obtain sensitive information to protect the shipments, and solicited large bribes from major drug traffickers.
Hernández, 40, is accused of conspiring with transnational organized crime networks in Mexico and Colombia to import large quantities of cocaine to the United States from 2004 to 2016.
According to the indictment, the former member of the National Congress of Honduras was involved in processing, receiving, transporting and distributing multiple shipments of cocaine arriving in Honduras by plane, speedboats, and at least once, in a submarine.
The brother of the current Honduran president had access to cocaine laboratories in Honduras and Colombia, in some of which the drug was labeled with his initials “TH”, said the prosecution.
The Honduran government reported the arrest of the president’s brother on Friday in a statement. Visibly affected, with trembling voice, President Juan Orlando Hernández himself confessed to journalists that it was a sad and difficult moment for the family.
He is a brother, a relative. They did not raise us like that, they raised us to be able to respect others. I cannot ignore this is a strong blow to the family; it is sad, it is difficult, we do not wish it to anyone,”
stressed the president, who has been in power since 2014.