In Other Media-eg New Statesman, AJE, FP, Georgia, NYT,  Azerbaijan, CSM Click here to contact us     .

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon, Thread Video
Honduras - The Source - The Root - etc

SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 30 – During the trial that convicted Tony Hernandez, the brother of Honduras' president Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH), on all four counts of guns and narcotics trafficking and false statements, the Honduran National Police came up again and again in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

  Now on April 30, this: " JUAN CARLOS BONILLA VALLADARES, a/k/a “El Tigre,” was charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, and related weapons offenses involving the use and possession of machineguns and destructive devices.      Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, the former chief of the Honduran National Police, allegedly abused his positions in Honduran law enforcement to flout the law and play a key role in a violent international drug trafficking conspiracy.  As alleged, on behalf of convicted former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez and his brother the president, Bonilla Valladares oversaw the transshipment of multi-ton loads of cocaine bound for the U.S., used machineguns and other weaponry to accomplish that, and participated in extreme violence, including the murder of a rival trafficker, to further the conspiracy.

     BONILLA VALLADARES was a member of the Honduran National Police between approximately 1985 and approximately 2016.  During his tenure, he held high-ranking positions, including Regional Police Chief with authority over locations in western Honduras that were strategically important to drug traffickers, and Chief of the Honduran National Police for all of Honduras between approximately 2012 and approximately 2013.  BONILLA VALLADARES corruptly exploited these official positions to facilitate cocaine trafficking, and used violence, including murder, to protect the particular cell of politically connected drug traffickers he aligned with, including Hernandez Alvarado and at least one of Hernandez Alvarado’s brothers, who is a former Honduran congressman and the current president of Honduras referred to in the Complaint charging BONILLA VALLADARES as “CC-4.”  For example, in exchange for bribes paid in drug proceeds, BONILLA VALLADARES directed members of the Honduran National Police, who were armed with machineguns, to let cocaine shipments pass through police checkpoints without being inspected or seized.  BONILLA VALLADARES, in coordination with Hernandez Alvarado and others, also provided members of their conspiracy with sensitive law enforcement information to facilitate cocaine shipments, including information regarding aerial and maritime interdiction operations. 

   In or about 2010, Hernandez Alvarado told a cooperating witness (“CW-1”) that Hernandez Alvarado and CC-4 helped BONILLA VALLADARES advance his position within the Honduran National Police, and that BONILLA VALLADARES protected their drug trafficking activities in return. 

Hernandez Alvarado also told CW-1 that BONILLA VALLADARES was very violent, and that Hernandez Alvarado and CC-4 trusted BONILLA VALLADARES with special assignments, including murder.     For example, in or about July 2011, BONILLA VALLADARES participated in the murder of a rival drug trafficker at the request of Hernandez Alvarado and others because the rival trafficker had attempted to prevent Hernandez Alvarado and other members of the conspiracy from transporting cocaine through a region of western Honduras near the border with Guatemala.  Claiming to investigate the murder at the time, BONILLA VALLADARES reportedly told a member of the media, in substance, that the murder was a well planned surprise attack that had been carried out efficiently and that the perpetrators had cleaned the murder scene thoroughly.  BONILLA VALLADARES reportedly added that the perpetrators of the murder had used 40-millimeter grenade launchers, M-16 assault rifles, and Galil assault rifles."
 
  This while still-free President Juan Orlando Hernandez, implicated in the case, is now promoting hydroxychloroquine as countering Covid-19, and seeks $340 million from the IMF, here.

  On April 14 it emerged that Tony Hernandez, unlike almost all other defendants during the Coronavirus pandemic, had refused to waive his physical appearance, letter below.

  So when the scheduled conference by SDNY Judge P. Kevin Castel began at 2 pm on April 15, with Inner City Press pressing to cover it, Judge Castel began by saying even the substitution of counsel should be put over.

  But after the below-quoted letter, the lawyers had reached Tony Hernandez and gotten his consent to not appear, and to for substitution of counsel.

  Judge Castel formalized the withdrawal as Tony Hernandez' counsel of Milbank's Antonia Apps and Kingdar Prussien, and their substitution by Peter Brill.

  By Judge Castel set a sentencing date, a new one: June 29 at 11 AM. He asked at the US Attorney's Office produce Tony Hernandez at that time. And with that it was over. Thread here. Inner City Press will continue to closely monitor the case.

Brill on April 14 had written: "Re: United States v. Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado 15 Cr. 379 Dear Judge Castel: I have been provisionally assigned by the Court to represent Mr. Hernandez. I write to inform the Court of the attempts both I and outgoing counsel from Milbank have made to communicate with our client. Mr. Hernandez and I have been corresponding by email, to a limited extent, which is made more difficult because I have to translate from Spanish to English and vice versa when I reply. I have also had some contact with family and friends, though that communication is obviously not privileged. Ms. Apps and Mr. Prussien from Milbank have made multiple requests for phone and video conferences with Mr. Hernandez, and we have corresponded with the government about facilitating a call. After numerous requests, the video conference was denied by the MCC. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts to schedule a phone call and numerous messages left with the facility, we have not received a response. This has been going on for weeks. Even if a call were scheduled, I would also have to conference in my assistant to translate, or somehow secure the assistance of a court interpreter. Based on my emails with Mr. Hernandez, he appears to understand the situation. However, translated emails do not allow for a formal discussion of what substitution and conflict mean. The emails are also not privileged communications, so I don’t feel entirely comfortable having meaningful conversations over Corrlinks. As such, Mr. Hernandez has not formally agreed to waive his appearance."

 On March 3 there was another arrest, this one citing "CC-4" while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres continues to refusal all questions about his support for involved Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez. The March 3 announcement is that "GEOVANNY DANIEL FUENTES RAMIREZ was charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons offenses involving the use and possession of machineguns and destructive devices.  DEA agents arrested FUENTES RAMIREZ on March 1, 2020, at Miami International Airport as he attempted to depart the United States, and was presented yesterday afternoon in Miami federal court.     Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged, Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramirez was, up until his arrest by the DEA two days ago, a prolific, powerful, and murderous cocaine trafficker in Honduras.  As further alleged, Fuentes Ramirez paved the way for unimpeded shipment of multi-ton loads of cocaine by bribing police and a high-ranking Honduran politician, and reporting directly to Tony Hernandez, another co-conspirator in the scheme and himself a former Honduran congressman.  Thanks to the DEA, a key player in the unholy alliance of Honduran officials and drug traffickers is now in custody and facing a possible life behind bars.”     DEA Special Agent in Charge Wendy Woolcock said:  “The arrest of Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramirez is yet another example of DEA’s perseverance to bring to justice criminal associates of corrupt Honduran public officials and law enforcement officers who enabled the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine headed to the United States.  These corrupt arrangements resulted in horrible violence in Honduras and beyond.  The DEA will continue to aggressively pursue and bring to justice those who participated in these activities, threatened the rule of law, and operated with complete disregard for human life for their financial gain.”     According to the allegations contained in the Complaint[1] charging FUENTES RAMIREZ, evidence presented at the October 2019 trial of Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado in the Southern District of New York, and statements in open court during the prosecution of Hernandez Alvarado:     Between approximately 2004 and 2020, multiple drug trafficking organizations in Honduras and elsewhere worked together, and with support from certain prominent public and private individuals, including Honduran politicians and law enforcement officials, to receive multi-ton loads of cocaine sent to Honduras from, among other places, Colombia via air and maritime routes, and to transport the drugs westward in Honduras toward the border with Guatemala and eventually to the United States." Since then: Maduro...

  Earlier, Inner City Press first reported that Mauricio Hernández Pineda, a former member of the National Police of Honduras,  has been arrested and detained on consent. He signed a financial affidavit of poverty - ironic - and was assigned CJA court appointed counsel, Michael Martin. Soon he will appeared before SDNY Judge Castel. Inner City Press will remain on the case.

  Also during Tony Hernandez' trial, the drug ledgers of one Nery Orlando López Sanabria a/k/a Magdaleno were used by the SDNY prosecutors.

  Here is an Inner City Press tweeted photo of notebook mentioning "JOH," in Spanish. Inner City Press has repeated asked the United Nations, in New York and Geneva, for comment. Dead silence.

A week after the Tony Hernandez verdict, Magdaleno was murdered in a supposedly maximum security prison in Santa Barbara, Honduras.

  The video are very troubling [WARNING] including the guards letting the killers in, here.

  UNSG Antonio Guterres refused all Press questions about Honduras during the trial and in the nine days since the verdict. On October 29 Inner City Press has asked: "what are the comments and actions of Guterres on the video taped killing of Nery Orlando López a/k/a Magdaleno Meza Fúnez, whose notebooks were used to convict Presidential brother Tony Hernandez in the SDNY court this month? Now Reinero Valle has, as Madgaleno had before his assassination, asked to be moved out of that El Pozo prison due to threats to silence him as a witness, so far without response to his lawyer Nazario Luque? Again, immediately provide the report / read-out of Guterres' four person panel sent to Honduras, and complete read out of his meeting with JOH." Now as of November 2, as Guterres presumptively uses El Chapo's money via JOH to visit strongmen leaders in Turkey and Thailand then, uncontested, waste money at his real home in Lisbon, nothing. Total corrupt.

This while Guterres' UN, despite its protestations and misuse of the concept, enable fake news in Honduras.

   On October 27 a publication in Honduras said the UN office of human rights has said nothing. But nothing had been emailed out to its press list, and nothing could be found on its website in Geneva - it turns out news it doesn't want anyone or at least not the drug funded dictators it answers to see it, it puts on obscure sub-sites, see below.

At 9 am on October 28 Geneva time Inner City Press in writing asked UN "High Commissioner for Human Rights" Michelle Bachelet and her spokesman Rupert Colville this: "Hello, this is a Press request for OHCHR / Bachelet comment on the murder, on video, in Honduras of 'Magdeleno' whose drug trafficking notebook were used in recent SDNY conviction of Presidential brother Tony Hernandez, a trial Inner City Press covered every day. See video of killing here.

   More on Patreon here.

  Inner City Press which covered the trial daily has asked the UN for the comment of SG Antonio Guterres who met with JOH in September 2019 and did not even mention corruption, much less drug trafficking.

 On October 26 after the murder and release of the video, Inner City Press went to (try to) pose the question to Guterres. The response? Video here. Three UN security vehicles, and even a publicly funded NYPD detective, "protecting" Guterres who already wastes untold public funds on security. Disgusting. A protest has been called for, and is needed - @InnerCityPress response here.  More on Patreon here.

Inner City Press on October 18 asked the defendant's lawyer Omar Malone about this client's post arrest statement, the admitted murders by the cooperating witnesses, and upcoming sentencing submission. Video and answers here.

    Here was the post arrest statement as initially put in to the jury, as uploaded to YouTube by Inner City Press, here. The case is US v. Diaz Morales, 15-cr-00379 (Castel).