- US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
- Zelensky says Russia planning attacks on Ukraine nuclear plants
- Film legend Bardot, nearing 90, enjoys her 'silent solitude'
- Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator
- Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services
- Finnish zoo to return pandas to China early
- At last! China's Zhang Shuai ends 24-match losing streak
- Global stocks trade mixed tracking China stimulus
- EU backs plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Jacks says new-look England need time to master ODIs
- Madrid's Mbappe suffers thigh injury before Atletico derby
- Russian MPs back adoption ban on countries allowing gender reassignment
- France minister vows new immigration 'rules' after student murder
- EU states back plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Unions vow 'bitter resistance' as Volkswagen talks begin
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after hiring Serena's former coach
- Lady Gaga plants lipstick smile on 'Mona Lisa' in Louvre clip
- Man City confirm Rodri knee ligament injury
- Hezbollah's Fadi rockets: More power, little precision
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after teaming up with Mouratoglou
- New Zealand flanker 'Braveheart' Sititi relishes his 'crazy' rise
- OECD calls for higher property taxes to fight debt
- Environmentalists smear Finland's parliament in red paint
- World Cup winner Varane retires
- Britain's Rightmove rejects higher £6.1-bn Murdoch bid
- Stocks rally stutters but Hong Kong, Shanghai up on new China move
- Cuts, cash, credit: China's latest bid to jumpstart flagging economy
- Hezbollah fires missile at Tel Aviv in Israel
- Zelensky to take UN stage in plea to sustain support
- Leftist Sri Lanka leader stuck with painful IMF deal: analysts
- Cryptocurrency platform boss urges tighter regulation
- 'Crazy' tree planter greening Sao Paulo concrete jungle
- French champagne makers bid to protect seasonal workers from abuse
- Atletico Madrid president splits time between football and film
- Japan ruling party to hold 'toss-up' vote for next PM
- Alcaraz says 'a lot of players' agree after schedule 'kill us' comments
- Outdated rules, limited metro collide for 'unbearable' Athens gridlock
- Ninth body recovered in flood-hit Japan region
- Sirens sound in Tel Aviv after fresh air strikes reported in Lebanon
- China launches intercontinental missile into Pacific in rare test
- The EU vs X: How big could the fines be for Musk?
- Hefty Australian penguin chick 'Pesto' becomes star
- Fashion's fun 'Frankenstein' flies after Olympic triumph
- Volkswagen crisis pits homegrown leaders against each other
- Princess Zelda takes the lead in 'Echoes of Wisdom'
- Astros clinch division title, Yankees kept waiting
- Asian markets boosted again after another Chinese rate cut
- The struggle to keep track of Gaza war deaths
- China cuts another key interest rate to boost economy
- Restarting nuclear power plants: the unprecedented gamble in the US
BCC | -0.38% | 141.25 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.48 | $ | |
SCS | -1.63% | 12.91 | $ | |
NGG | -0.11% | 70.03 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.43% | 7.04 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.24% | 25.06 | $ | |
RIO | 0.49% | 67.75 | $ | |
GSK | -0.15% | 40.92 | $ | |
AZN | 0.56% | 77.305 | $ | |
BCE | -0.33% | 35.015 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.04% | 59.48 | $ | |
CMSC | 0% | 25.1 | $ | |
RELX | 0.35% | 48.7 | $ | |
BP | -2.43% | 32.05 | $ | |
VOD | -0.3% | 10.06 | $ | |
BTI | -0.44% | 37.932 | $ |
Honduran ex-police chief extradited to US to face drug charges
Former Honduran police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla was extradited Tuesday to the United States, where he stands accused of supervising drug trafficking operations on behalf of ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Hernandez, 53, was extradited to the United States last month to face drug trafficking charges, less than three months after he left the presidency following eight years in office.
An airplane belonging to the US Drug Enforcement Agency took off from a military base in Tegucigalpa with a handcuffed Bonilla aboard, an AFP journalist at the scene saw.
Bonilla, 61, was implicated during a trial in a New York court in which Hernandez's ex-congressman brother Tony was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
Bonilla "allegedly abused his positions in Honduran law enforcement to flout the law and play a key role in a violent international drug trafficking conspiracy," then federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman said in a statement in April 2020.
In the name of the Hernandez brothers, he also "oversaw the transshipment of multi-ton loads of cocaine bound for the US, used machine guns and other weaponry to accomplish that, and participated in extreme violence, including the murder of a rival trafficker, to further the conspiracy."
Bonilla -- known as "The Tiger" -- could face life in prison if convicted.
He served as police chief from 2012 to 2013, right at the beginning of Hernandez's mandate.
He was arrested in March and the Supreme Court ratified his extradition a month later.
Security Minister Ramon Sabillon said Bonilla had submitted to the extradition to "shorten the process."
Several days ago, Bonilla wrote an open letter claiming he had been targeted "unfairly by unknown people acting outside the law" to implicate him.
He said he would travel to the United States "with head held high" and a "clean conscience."
Hernandez, who was due to appear in court later Tuesday, has denied involvement in drug trafficking.
US prosecutors say the former president turned Honduras into a "narco-state" by involving the military, police and civilians in drug trafficking.
Several drug traffickers have told US prosecutors they paid bribes to Hernandez's inner circle. By the time he left office, DEA agents were ready to move against him.
His family claims he is the "victim of revenge by the drug traffickers he himself had extradited or forced to flee to the United States."
J.Fankhauser--BTB