Honduran President’s Brother Received $1Million From El Chapo – US Prosecutors 

United States prosecutors say jailed Mexican drug lord, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzman gave $1million bribe to the brother of the President of Honduras, which was meant to reach the country’s leader.

The charge was read out at the start of the trial of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez in New York. Juan was arrested in an anti-drugs operation in Miami in November.

The President, who was not charged in the case has however denied the claims, describing them as 100% false, absurd, ridiculous and ‘less serious than Alice in Wonderland’. 

In a strongly worded tweet, the 50-year-old conservative leader who enjoys the staunch support of the Donald Trump administration also pointed out that the prosecutor did not say he had received the money which was allegedly given to his brother.

The 41-year-old Juan Antonio Hernández faces four separate charges, including drug conspiracy to import cocaine into the US and weapons offences. He has denied the accusations but if convicted, he faces life in prison.

“The defendant was protected by and had access to his brother, the current sitting president of Honduras, a man who himself has received millions of dollars in drug money bribes,” Assistant US Attorney Jason Richman said.

“Bribes he received from some of the largest cocaine traffickers in the world, bribes he received from men like El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel who personally delivered $1million to the defendant for his brother,” Richman added.

According to Richman, Tony Hernández, a former congressman was part of a ‘state-sponsored organization’ which distributed cocaine in the US for years and that corrupt mayors, congressmen, military generals and police chiefs protected him.

The prosecutor however did not say when the alleged transaction involving EL Chapo took place. Earlier this year, El Chapo Guzmán was convicted in a US court and sentenced to life in prison.

Tony’s lawyer, Omar Malone said his client was being targeted because of President Hernández’s tough policies against criminals, including extradition of drug traffickers to the US.

Honduras is a major transit route for cocaine smuggled from Colombia and other South American countries to the US.