International News
Honduras Ex-President To Face New York Drug Trial
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez goes on trial in New York on Tuesday charged with drug trafficking, including the transfer of 500 tons of cocaine through his country to the United States.
The 55-year-old Hernandez was brought to the United States in April 2022 to answer charges that he aided the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine to America in return for millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers.
He will go on trial alone in Manhattan’s Southern District federal court after his two co-defendants, former Honduran police chief Juan Carlos “Tiger” Bonilla and ex-policeman Mauricio Hernandez, pleaded guilty in recent days to drug trafficking.
Honduras-President-Juan-Orlando-Hernandez-
Their pleas, and any cooperation with the US authorities, will likely pile pressure on Hernandez to cut a deal with prosecutors and also plead.
As president, Hernandez worked closely with the administration of former president Donald Trump, winning Washington’s praise for his government’s work in drug seizures and the fight against organized crime.
“He arrested people who had no ties to him, but he protected others,” former DEA agent Mikel Vigil told AFP.
Hernandez was extradited to the United States in April 2022, shortly after handing power to his successor, leftist Xiomara Castro.
If found guilty of the three charges against him, conspiracy to traffic drugs and two counts of trafficking and possession of weapons, Hernandez could die behind bars.
He has insisted he is innocent. “I am the victim of a vendetta and a conspiracy by organized crime and political enemies,” he wrote in a public letter sent from prison in New York and published on X, formerly Twitter, by his wife.
– ‘Victim of revenge’? –
Hernandez would follow in the footsteps of other former Latin American heads of state convicted in the United States, like Panama’s Manuel Noriega in 1992 and Guatemala’s Alfonso Portillo in 2014.
Last year, Mexico’s former homeland security minister Genaro Garcia Luna, the highest-ranking Mexican official to face a US trial, was found guilty of drug trafficking by a New York court. His sentencing is set for June 24.
Hernandez, whose 2014 to 2022 stint as president was plagued by allegations of corruption, faces life in prison if found guilty.
He is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of cocaine — mainly from Colombia and Venezuela — to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before his presidency.
US prosecutors say Hernandez turned Honduras into a “narco-state” by involving the military, police and civilians in drug trafficking.
Hernandez used the drug money to enrich himself and finance his political campaign and commit electoral fraud in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, the indictment alleges.
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 orf orced to flee to the United States.”
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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