An Ex-Cop Allegedly Killed for the Honduran President. Now the US Wants Him in Prison
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, or “the Tiger,” is a former national police chief and accused of protecting the cocaine trafficking operations of the powerful Hernández brothers.
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By Jeff Ernst
THEN NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF JUAN CARLOS BONILLA, ANSWERED QUESTIONS FROM THE PRESS IN TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS ON MAY 24, 2012. PHOTO: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/GETTYIMAGES.
The U.S. has requested the extradition of a former police chief of Honduras who prosecutors say killed to protect a cocaine conspiracy for the president and his brother, according to local media reports in the Central American nation.
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, known as “El Tigre,” or the Tiger, due to his fierce appearance and allegedly ruthless approach to policing, was charged with drug trafficking and related weapons offences in April 2020, but the extradition request was only made May 13.
Bonilla has been lying low in Honduras ever since the charges were announced last year, and is not in government custody.
Experts say the extradition request raises the stakes for President Juan Orlando Hernández, who U.S. prosecutors have already accused of receiving millions in bribes from drug traffickers, including $1 million from the former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
“[Bonilla] is a very pivotal figure, and if he was extradited to the United States and decided to cooperate, it would be the final nail in the coffin of Hernández,” said Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnxbz/an-ex-cop-allegedly-killed-for-the-honduran-president-now-the-us-wants-him-in-prison
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Posted at D.U. on April 30, 2020:
Ex-Honduran national police chief charged in New York
Claudia Torrens, Christopher Sherman and Marlon Gonzalez, Associated Press
Updated 4:22 pm CDT, Thursday, April 30, 2020
Photo: Fernando Antonio, AP
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FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2012 file photo, Honduras Police Chief Gen. Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, also known as the Tiger, or "El Tigre," salutes during an event in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The former chief of the Honduran National Police faces drug and weapons charges in New York, where prosecutors claimed on Thursday, April 30, 2020, that he traded his law enforcement clout to protect U.S.-bound shipments of cocaine.
More:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142483712
