Honduran president’s brother held in US over drug ties

Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, a 40-year-old lawyer and former ruling party lawmaker, was arrested by U.S. authorities in Miami, the president’s office said in a statement.

Honduran authorities released a statement saying the arrest in Miami was consistent with the president's declaration last month that "no one is above the law" and came after persistent rumours of Antonio Hernandez's involvement in narcotics.

The president’s brother is the latest in a string of prominent Hondurans, including three congressmen, who have been charged in the United States for involvement with drug trafficking.

“This is a heavy blow for the whole family,” the president told reporters in his hometown of Gracias, in western Honduras. “I hope the justice system gives him the room to defend himself, and as a family, we will do what we can to support him.”

The former head of the Los Cachiros cartel Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga had testified to a court in New York in 2017 that he had bribed the president's brother when he was a lawmaker, in exchange for his assistance to the traffickers.

The Honduran president, a conservative lawyer who came to power in 2014, has reined in homicides with a tough policy against drug cartels and street gangs that have been supported by the United States and criticized by human rights groups.

Former President Porfirio Lobo, who governed Honduras between 2010 and 2014, has also been linked to the Cachiros criminal organization in trials in the United States and has rejected these accusations.

Last year, Maradiaga had also testified against Fabio Lobo, son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for collaborating with the Los Cachiros cartel.

In his testimony, he had explained how the Los Cachiros had set up an intermediary company which is used to conduct business with the government, and which served to launder its trafficking profits.

The Los Cachiros cartel was responsible for moving tons of cocaine into the United States before being dismantled by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Antonio Hernandez was previously accused of being involved in the drug trade in 2016 by former Honduran soldier Santos Rodriguez.

Rodriguez also accused Antonio Hernandez of being an accomplice to a plot to kill the US ambassador to Honduras. He denied all charges.