Ex-president of Honduras extradited to US to face drug-trafficking charges

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez in handcuffs at an air base in Tegucigalpa (Elmer Martinez/AP)

Honduras extradited former president Juan Orlando Hernandez to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, in a dramatic reversal for a leader once touted by US authorities as a key ally in the war on drugs.

Just three months after leaving office, Hernandez boarded a plane handcuffed to agents from the US drug enforcement administration bound for the US, where he faces charges in the southern district of New York.