Official Statement from The Office of the President of the Republic of Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a criminal accusation promoted by a US prosecutor against the former head of the National Police, there are references to the President of Honduras that are far from the truth and the Honduran Government categorically rejects them based on public records and verifiable facts. Court records demonstrate that these false testimonies against President Juan Orlando Hernández come from confessed assassins and drug traffickers who were captured, prosecuted and extradited by the Hernandez Administration.

Immediately after the 2013 elections, President-elect Juan Orlando Hernández requested to President Porfirio Lobo to name a new leadership in the National Police, this action on its own is a statement and reassurance of Hernandez's commitment to combat drug trafficking and transnational crime. One of the firm policies of Hernandez has been from the very beginning of his administration to purge the police from criminals, especially those proven tied to human right violations, transnational crime, modern slavery and others unlawful activities.

President Hernández is leading an unprecedented purge of the National Police, resulting in the removal of General Bonilla, along with 43% of the entire police force, including most of the top ranks.

On December 20, 2013, AP reported: "Gen. Juan Carlos Bonilla was removed as chief the police by President Porfirio Lobo, who said he acted after consulting with President-elect Juan Orlando Hernández" who would take office the following month.
https://news.yahoo.com/feared-39-tiger-39-top-cop-honduras-051013759.html

The method President Hernández chose for purging the National Police is significant: he empowered respected members of civil society to manage the entire process, thus he guaranteed an impartial screening not subject to personal or political interests. https://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/1376531-410/omar-rivera-comision-indicios-tigre-bonilla

The Washington DC based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center), prepared an extensive evaluation report of the purging process of the national police. In the presentation of the report Eric L. Olson, representative of the Wilson Center for Central America, stressed, "The political will of government authorities, especially that of President Juan Orlando Hernández and his Secretary of Security Julian Pacheco, to carry on the police reform initiative and make the decisions conducive to achieving the necessary cleaning in the structure of the institution."
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/lap_dye_police-english_final.pdf

https://www.latribuna.hn/2019/05/23/proceso-de-depuracion-de-la-policia-no-tiene-paralelo-en-al-dice-informe-del-woodrow-wilson-international-center/

History is proving that President Hernández has a strong hand against organize criminal organizations with successful results that have been fundamental for national, regional and hemisphere security.

Moreover, President Hernández has promoted several key laws to strengthen the judiciary system and the office of the general prosecutor to combat organize crime, including the approval in Congress and the implementation of the extradition law that has put the most wanted criminals in the hands of the US judiciary system, facing fierce domestic resistance and several life threats against him and his family. President Hernandez understood that the extradition law was crucial to deliver drug lords and other criminals to foreign courts outside the influence of any president or any politician to make sure that justice was served.

In partnership with the US and other allies' countries, Hernández has achieved extraordinary results in reducing drug trafficking. The Government of Honduras, based on other cases where confessed criminals negotiate and give false testimonies seeking reduction of their sentences and other benefits, is concerned that these Honduran confessed criminals are negotiating reduction of their sentences which will allow them to return to the country and reestablished their criminal activities and kingdoms of terror. For that reason, President Hernández has publicly requested not to negotiate reduction of sentences for the criminals that his government has extradited to the US in order to end their kingdoms of terror and narco trafficking activities. "Reducing sentences of the extradited criminals will be a setback for the war against transnational crime," President Hernandez stated.

These are the facts that speak for themselves: more than 6 thousand people arrested for drug trafficking, 500 disjointed gangs, about 19 thousand kilos of cocaine decomposed, and 1,300 kilos of liquid cocaine, 162 thousand coca plants, more than 175 thousand pounds and about one million marijuana plants seized; in addition 19 narco-laboratories have been dismantled, 263 clandestine landing strips were disabled and nearly 1,800 goods and assets have been seized from these drug traffickers.

It is confirmed by the U.S. Southern Command that during President Hernandez administration drug trafficking through Honduran territory going to the USA market has been reduced from 70 to only 2 percent.

SOURCE President of the Government of Honduras