| In Honduras Drug Trial DOJ
Says President JOH Took $25000 and Vowed Coke
in Gringos Nose
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 9 –The Honduras
narco-trafficking trial of US
v. Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez
began on the morning of March
9. Inner City Press was
there.
Geovanny
Fuentes was sitting at the
defense table, with two U.S.
Marshals citing six feet
behind him. The prosecutors were
the table in front, closest to
the judge.
U.S. District
Court for the Southern District
of New York Judge P. Kevin
Castel said the open argument
would take 20 minutes. Inner
City Press live tweeted the
first opening argument here:
Judge
Castel: "Juror Number Five is
excused. She is going to see
her doctor."
Note: in the
other trial Inner City Press
is covering, about Wirecard, 1
of the jurors tested positive
for COVID last week. Jurors
are being tested on the way
in, and that trial is
continuing.
Judge
Castel: Defendant is charged
with cocaine import, &
machine guns
Judge
Castel is telling the jurors
the rules: Don't talk about
the trial, even at home, until
the entire trial is over.
Judge
Castel: If you send a note to
me, don't tell the other
jurors what is about - if you
do, it may be that the whole
jury needs to be dismissed.
And no social media posts
about the trial.
Judge
Castel: How long does the
prosecution want for an
opening statement? Twenty
minutes. Defense too. It
begins. Assistant US Attorney:
This case is about a violent
drug trafficker. He ran a
cocaine lab in the mountains
of Honduras. He guarded the
labs with gun
AUSA: He
needed trucks, boats and
airplanes to move the cocaine.
He bought those he could, and
killed those he could not. He
was connected with the
military and political power
in Honduras: mayors,
congressmen, "even the current
president of Honduras" AUSA:
Getting the drugs here
requires power, big people, at
the highest level of the drug
trade. The evidence will show
that he started selling kilos
in Miami. Each kilos has 8000
doses. Small shipments. Then
he moved up to cocaine lab in
Honduras
AUSA: He
paid armed men to guard his
lab. It was raided and he was
never prosecuted for it. The
officer who participated in
that raid, he was kidnapped,
he was tortured and he was
murdered because he tried to
get in defendant's way.
AUSA: But
the defendant was not
satisfied. He sought out and
partnered with largest drug
organization in Honduras. He
bragged about his lab, his
close relations with those in
power, and his armed guards.
He was successful. Thousands
of kilos into the US
AUSA: He
partnered directly with a
candidate, now the president
of Honduras. You'll learn
about secret meetings the
defendant had with the
president in 2013 and 2014, to
send as much cocaine as
possible to the US. He gave
the president $25,000 &
access to his lab
AUSA: In
exchange, the President made
the defendant bullet proof,
shielded him from prosecution
with the held of the Attorney
General. The defendant would
team up with the president's
brother, then a major drug
dealer. [Tony Hernandez is now
in the jail next door]
AUSA: The
defendant was a key part of
"the Honduran narco-state...
He worked with the now
president.... He helped the
president traffic cocaine."
[The US is going strong
against Juan Orlando
Hernandez. Where is this
going?]
AUSA: The
defendant was untouchable in
Honduras, but he was not in
the US. He was arrested in
2020 in the airport in Miami.
In his post arrest interview,
you'll hear how he got the
land for his lab. Lionel
Rivera will testify how he
worked with the defendant.
AUSA: Rivera will
describe defendant's
involvement in torture in
murder. Lionel Rivera has
admitted to his role in 78
murders, and 15 attempted
murders. You'll hear
from an accountant, Jose
Sanchez. He worked for a
business in Honduras used to
launder drug money
AUSA: Jose
Sanchez will tell you about
the defendant's meetings with
the president. The fear, he
felt when he saw the defendant
sitting with the president,
that after they partnered, the
president said they would
"shove the drugs up the noses
of the gringos."
AUSA: You'll
learned what was on the
defendant's phone when he was
arrested: photos of guns.
Stacks of cash. At the end,
we'll speak again. Until then,
please do 3 things: pay
attention, follow instructions
on the law, and use your
common sense. He is guilty.
The case is US v. Diaz, 15-cr-379 (Castel).
***
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