Narco says he gave to Honduran president's early campaign

Claudia Torrens, Associated Press
Updated 7:07 pm CDT, Thursday, October 3, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — A Honduran drug trafficker testified Thursday that he gave $40,000 to Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández in 2005 for the congressional campaign of his brother, who is now the president of Honduras.

Trafficker Victor Hugo Díaz Morales said that with Tony Hernández’s help he moved more than 140 tons of cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2016. Díaz said Hernández asked him for the money, explaining that with his brother in office, he could make government connections and help traffickers.

U.S. prosecutors allege Hernández capitalized on his government connections to move tons of U.S.-bound drugs through the country. President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving his second term, was previously president of the country’s congress.

Prosecutors say Juan Orlando Hernández received at least $1.5 million for his 2013 presidential campaign from drug traffickers. In exchange, the traffickers moved their shipments without government interference, prosecutors say.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Prosecutors-Drug-ledgers-list-Honduran-14489791.php