Federal prosecutors in New York said on Monday they had filed drugs and weapons charges against Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, a former Honduran lawmaker and brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, accusing him of working with drug traffickers across Latin America to import cocaine into the U.S.
Mr. Hernandez was actively involved in cocaine trafficking in Honduras over a 12-year period, prosecutors alleged, including by affixing a stamp of “TH,” his initials, on some cocaine in laboratories to which he had access in Honduras and Colombia. He was involved in processing, receiving, transporting and distributing multi-ton loads of cocaine that arrived in the country via plane, boat and, at least once, submarine, prosecutors said.
Mr. Hernandez was arrested Friday in Miami and was scheduled Monday to appear in Miami federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Honduran president, Andrea Matamoros, didn’t respond to requests for comment. The president’s office said Friday in a statement following Mr. Hernandez’s arrest that “no one is above the law and that every person has the right to a legitimate defense and the presumption of innocence.
“The president and his government maintain the position that everyone is responsible for their acts and in no case is this responsibility transferable to other persons,” the statement said.
Mr. Hernandez, 40 years old, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison plus 45 years if convicted of all four counts.
The charges against him highlight how organized crime has penetrated the Honduran political establishment and undermines its weak institutions, political analysts say.
It is a situation that has contributed to the lack of hope for change in the country among the tens of thousands of Hondurans fleeing to the U.S. to escape grinding poverty and violent crime. President Trump on Monday threatened to close the U.S. border as a caravan from Honduras sought to enter the U.S. and apply for asylum.
“This is irrefutable evidence that organized crime has infiltrated the highest political spheres in Honduras,” said Rafael Delgado, an economist and columnist with Honduran newspaper La Tribuna. “Drug trafficking in Honduras isn’t just an issue of gangs, but one that has infiltrated the political and economic powers in the country.”
“This is why there is disillusionment with the politics in the country,” he added. “People have realized there is so much corruption. They’ve lost hope.”
Honduras, a Central American country of nine million people, has become a hub for transporting cocaine from South America to the U.S. as organized crime takes advantage of its weak institutions and rule of law. The growth in drug trafficking has fueled violence in Honduras, one of the hemisphere’s poorest countries that has one of the world’s highest murder rates.
Family members of other prominent politicians have also been arrested for drug trafficking. Last year, Fabio Lobo, the son of former President Porfirio Lobo, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in the U.S. after admitting to drug trafficking following his arrest in Haiti in an operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mr. Delgado said the arrest of President Hernandez’s brother will further damage the Honduran leader and could have ramifications for his close relationship with Washington. While the 50-year-old President Hernandez has been credited with improving security, he has also come under fire over his controversial re-election in November 2017. His election win, which came after the supreme court in Honduras struck down a one-term limit on presidents, sparked large protests.
The U.S., which has provided Honduras with millions of dollars in aid, backed Mr. Hernandez’s re-election. But last month, President Trump threatened to cut off aid to Honduras and other Central American nations if they didn’t stop thousands of migrants who left in a caravan for the U.S.
“This weakens the president and his party much more,” said Mr. Delgado. “It is time that the United States realize that its allies here in the country have colluded with organized crime and drug trafficking.”
Write to Samuel Rubenfeld at Samuel.Rubenfeld@wsj.com<mailto:Samuel.Rubenfeld@wsj.com> and Ryan Dube at Ryan.Dube@wsj.com<mailto:Ryan.Dube@wsj.com>
Write to Samuel Rubenfeld at samuel.rubenfeld@wsj.com and Ryan Dube at ryan.dube@dowjones.com