Former Chief Of Honduran National Police Extradited To The United States On Drug Trafficking And Weapons Offenses

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), introduced immediately the extradition of JUAN CARLOS BONILLA VALLADARES, a/ok/a “El Tigre,” on prices of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and associated weapons offenses involving the use and possession of machine weapons and damaging gadgets.  BONILLA VALLADARES arrived from Honduras within the Southern District of New York yesterday, and shall be offered immediately earlier than U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated:  “Rather than use his high-powered position as the Chief of Honduran Police to combat drug trafficking, Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, a/k/a ‘El Tigre,’ corruptly exploited his position to protect and assist the drug trafficking organizations he was obligated to disrupt.  With his support and protection, Bonilla Valladares’s associates became a critical pipeline for the Central American drug trade to the United States.  His extradition demonstrates that no one is exempt by virtue of their title or position of authority – even foreign Presidents and police chiefs – from criminal prosecution for contributing to the flood of illegal narcotics into this country that causes so much harm.” 

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram stated:  “Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez would not have risen to power and successfully benefited from massive drug proceeds had it not been for his expansive network of corrupt associates.  These associates, including Bonilla Valladares, likewise exploited their positions to traffic cocaine to the United States and violently protect other politically connected drug traffickers, all for their own personal gains. Bonilla Valladares further betrayed the Honduran people by using his law enforcement badge to cover for his crimes. Bonilla Valladares’s extradition shows the world once again that corrupt officials cannot hide behind their positions. DEA, in coordination with our U.S. and international partners, will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens the safety and health of Americans.”

According to the allegations contained within the Complaint charging BONILLA VALLADARES, proof offered on the October 2019 trial of Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado (“Hernandez Alvarado”) within the Southern District of New York, and statements in open courtroom throughout the prosecution of Hernandez Alvarado[1]:

Between roughly 2003 and 2020, a number of drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras and elsewhere labored collectively, and with assist from sure outstanding private and non-private people, together with Honduran politicians and legislation enforcement officers, to obtain multi-ton a great deal of cocaine despatched to Honduras from, amongst different locations, Colombia and Venezuela by way of air and maritime routes, and to move the medication westward in Honduras towards the border with Guatemala and ultimately to the United States.  For safety from legislation enforcement interference, and with a view to facilitate the secure passage by way of Honduras of multi-ton a great deal of cocaine, drug traffickers paid bribes to public officers, together with sure presidents, members of the National Congress of Honduras, and personnel from the Honduran National Police, together with BONILLA VALLADARES. 

BONILLA VALLADARES was a member of the Honduran National Police between roughly 1998 and roughly 2016.  During his tenure, he held high-ranking positions, together with Regional Police Chief with authority over places in western Honduras that have been strategically necessary to drug traffickers, and Chief of the Honduran National Police for all of Honduras between roughly 2012 and roughly 2013.  BONILLA VALLADARES corruptly exploited these official positions to facilitate cocaine trafficking, and used violence, together with homicide, to guard the actual cell of politically linked drug traffickers he aligned with, together with former Honduran congressman Hernandez Alvarado and former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez (“Hernandez”), who’s referred to within the Complaint charging BONILLA VALLADARES as “CC-4.” 

For instance, in trade for bribes paid in drug proceeds, BONILLA VALLADARES directed members of the Honduran National Police, who have been armed with machine weapons, to let cocaine shipments move by way of police checkpoints with out being inspected or seized.  BONILLA VALLADARES, in coordination with Hernandez Alvarado and others, additionally offered members of their conspiracy with delicate legislation enforcement data to facilitate cocaine shipments, together with data relating to aerial and maritime interdiction operations.

In or about 2010, Hernandez Alvarado informed a cooperating witness (“CW-1”) that Hernandez Alvarado and Hernandez helped BONILLA VALLADARES advance his place inside the Honduran National Police, and that BONILLA VALLADARES protected their drug-trafficking actions in return.  Hernandez Alvarado additionally informed CW-1 that BONILLA VALLADARES was very violent, and that Hernandez Alvarado and Hernandez trusted BONILLA VALLADARES with particular assignments, together with homicide.  For instance, in or about July 2011, BONILLA VALLADARES participated within the homicide of a rival drug trafficker on the request of Hernandez Alvarado and others as a result of the rival trafficker had tried to stop Hernandez Alvarado and different members of the conspiracy from transporting cocaine by way of a area of western Honduras close to the border with Guatemala. 

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The Complaint prices BONILLA VALLADARES, 62, with: (1) conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, (2) utilizing and carrying machine weapons and damaging gadgets throughout and in relation to, and possessing machine weapons and damaging gadgets in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy; and (3) conspiring to make use of and carry machine weapons and damaging gadgets throughout and in relation to, and to own machine weapons and damaging gadgets in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy.  If convicted, BONILLA VALLADARES faces a compulsory minimal sentence of 10 years in jail and a most time period of life in jail on Count One, a compulsory minimal sentence of 30 years in jail and a most time period of life in jail on Count Two, and a most time period of life in jail on Count Three. 

The most potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are offered right here for informational functions solely, as any sentencing of the defendant shall be decided by a decide.

Mr. Williams praised the excellent investigative work of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit, New York Strike Force, and the Tegucigalpa Country Office.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs offered useful help in securing BONILLA VALLADARES’s arrest and extradition.

This prosecution is a part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level prison organizations that threaten the United States utilizing a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency method. Additional details about the OCDETF Program could be discovered at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is being dealt with by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob H. Gutwillig, Michael D. Lockard, Jason A. Richman, and Elinor L. Tarlow are accountable for the prosecution.

The prices within the Complaint are merely accusations, and BONILLA VALLADARES is presumed harmless except and till confirmed responsible.

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