US Investigating Honduran President for Cocaine Smuggling and Money Laundering

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is one of the main targets of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into “large-scale drug-trafficking and money laundering activities” related to the “importation of cocaine into the United States,” according to a court filing.

The document, filed Thursday, states the DEA has been investigating Hernández and eight others since 2013. Hernández became president in January 2014.

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Honduras is at the center of a migration phenomenon that has been unfolding over the past five years. During fiscal 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017, approximately 76,000 Honduran citizens were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border after illegally crossing north.