Honduran police detained ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Tuesday, escorting him from his home in handcuffs and chains, following a U.S. extradition request on drug charges that marked a dramatic fall from grace only weeks after Hernandez left power.

In live footage shown on national TV, police officials gave Hernandez a bullet-proof vest and placed a chain between his handcuffed wrists and ankles before taking him to a nearby base for police special forces in Tegucigalpa, the capital.

Hernandez was shown seated at a table where doctors undertook a medical examination in front of the media, including unbuttoning his shirt to put a stethoscope on his chest, according to live HCH Noticias images. Hernandez was then driven away.

The right-wing former leader’s detention came after a Honduran judge on Tuesday ordered his arrest following the U.S. extradition request on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.

A U.S. Embassy document, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, showed that U.S. authorities charged that Hernandez participated in a drug-trafficking scheme between 2004 and 2022.

The document alleged Hernandez was part of an operation to receive tonnes of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela, which were to be shipped onwards to the United States.

Hernandez was set to spend the night in a police station and appear before a court on Wednesday morning.

Source: Tap News Agency