US Charges Honduran President’s Brother with Drug Conspiracy
A brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was charged in the U.S. on Monday with scheming for years to bring tons of cocaine into the country, with prosecutors calling him a big-time trafficker so enmeshed in the trade that the drug was sometimes stamped with his initials.
Federal prosecutors in New York announced drug conspiracy and other charges against Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, a former Honduran congressman. He has previously denied doing anything illegal.
He was appearing in court in Miami, where he was arrested Friday. His lawyer’s name wasn’t immediately available.
The drug-related corruption allegations that swirled around Tony Hernandez have cast a shadow over his brother’s government in a Central American country that is a major transit hub for cocaine.
Honduras is also the homeland of thousands of migrants who recently have been traveling toward and are now camping out at the U.S. border with Mexico, saying they are fleeing a poor economy and oppressive gang crime.
After his brother’s arrest Friday, the president’s administration reiterated an earlier statement that “no one is above the law, and every person must have the right to a legitimate defense and be presumed innocent.”
https://www.usacurrentnews.com/us-charges-honduran-presidents-brother-with-drug-conspiracy/