By Gustavo Palencia and Marvin Valladares
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -The United States has requested the Honduran government to arrest and extradite former president Juan Orlando Hernandez, a senior Honduran government source said on Monday, as police surrounded the house of the former leader.
Speculation has been swirling for months that the United States was planning to extradite Hernandez when he left office amid accusations that he colluded with drug traffickers. Leftist leader Xiomara Castro replaced him as president last month.
The senior Honduran official, who sought anonymity as they were not allowed to speak to media on the subject, told Reuters the United States “requested the provisional arrest of former president Juan Orlando Hernández for extradition purposes”.
CNN Espanol also reported the request was for Hernandez, publishing what appeared to be a government document about the extradition.
Hernandez could not be immediately reached for commment but he has always denied any links to drug traffickers.
The U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa and the government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Honduran Foreign Ministry earlier in the day that the U.S. Embassy had requested the arrest of a Honduran politician who has an extradition request to the United States.
The ministry did not disclose the name of the official but said the request had been sent to the country’s Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia and Marvin Valladares.Writing by Drazen JorgicEditing by Drazen Jorgic, Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill)
