A Honduran judge authorized on Wednesday the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the United States on drug-trafficking and firearms charges.
The decision was announced on the Twitter account of the Central American country's judicial authority.
Hernandez, who was arrested in mid-February following the U.S. extradition request, has three days to appeal the judge's decision, according to a judicial spokesperson.
U.S. authorities charged that the right-wing former leader participated in a drug-trafficking scheme between 2004 and 2022. He is also accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect drug traffickers from investigation and prosecution, and carrying, using, or aiding and abetting the use of weapons.
Hernandez, who was replaced as president in January by leftist Xiomara Castro, has denied any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia, Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
