Just 3 weeks after Juan Orlando Hernandez left office, the United States seeks to extradite Juan Orlando Hernandez.

The standoff continued.

Hernandez's legal team released a video from Hernandez's home. It appears that Felix Avila stated that everything would need to wait until Tuesday when the Supreme Court has designated a judge to review the case. "It is understood that there is no arrest order."

Rasel Tome (vice president of the newly elected National Congress), said Hernandez must surrender or he would be taken into custody at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Hernandez made an audio recording via Twitter shortly before the deadline to thank those who had prayed for him.

He said, "It's not an easy moment." "I don’t want it for anyone."
According to him, the National Police was already informed by his lawyers that he was ready and willing to cooperate with them and accompany them in the event the judge appointed by the Honorable Supreme Court of Justice makes a decision. He stated that he wanted to be able to face the situation and defend himself.

It was a long-awaited victory for a leader resented in his country. However, Trump's administration supported him but the Biden White House has kept them at arm's length. The White House is focusing on Central America's corruption epidemic as a root cause to migration.

Although the specific charges against Hernandez are not known, federal prosecutors in New York previously called Hernandez a co-conspirator for a drug trafficking case. They claimed that Hernandez's political rise was fuelled by drug profits. Hernandez has always denied any wrongdoing.

Officials from the United States confirmed Tuesday's extradition request to CBS News, but the Department of Justice refused to provide any details about the nature of Hernandez's accusations.

Hernandez resigned January 27, with the swearing-in of President Xiomara Cuba.

Hernandez was also sworn in to office as the representative of Honduras to the Central American parliament that day.

Hermes Ramirez (his lawyer) stated that Hernandez was protected as a regional parliament member and that government forces were not following proper procedures. He claimed Hernandez was in the house.

On Monday night, several contingents of National Police, including special forces, were present in Hernandez's neighbourhood. Residents and media were barred from all entrances.

Security forces arrived in the area wearing balaclavas, handcuffs, and weapons. Some neighbors claimed that the house was darkened and believed it unoccupied.

Hernandez frequently referred to the fact Honduras allowed the extradition of Hondurans for drug trafficking charges during his presidency of the congress.

U.S. prosecutors claim that he took bribes of drug traffickers in exchange for the promise to protect them when he became Honduran president. New York U.S. Prosecutors repeatedly indicted him in the 2019 drug trafficking trial of his brother, alleging that he was motivated by drug profits.

Juan Antonio Hernandez, a brother and former Honduran congressman was sentenced in March 2021 to life imprisonment on drug-related charges. Matthew Laroche, Assistant U.S. attorney, described the crime as "state-sponsored drugs trafficking" at his sentencing.

Juan Orlando Hernandez was inaugurated on January 27, 2014. To overcome the constitutional ban on Honduras' reelection, he used a friendly Supreme Court and won a second term in 2017. The elections were marred by irregularities.

Jorge Arturo Vega (56), a supporter Castro's Liberty and Refoundation parties, was seen celebrating outside a Hernandez neighborhood police barricade around midnight Monday.

"This party is something we've been waiting a while for," Vega stated, looking back at the past dozen years that Hernandez was brought up in Congress. "We couldn’t bear this drug trafficker and criminal, killer in our presidential house any more."