The US has asked Honduras to extradite former president Juan Orlando Hernandez who is suspected of drug trafficking, a Honduran official told AFP on February 14.

Police special forces were seen encircling Hernandez’s residence in the capital Tegucigalpa that evening, while the official, who declined to be named, said the former president is currently in Honduras.

Hernandez, a former US ally who left office last month, has been linked to drug trafficking operations by New York prosecutors.

Earlier, the Honduran foreign ministry had said on Twitter that an “official communication from the US Embassy” was sent to the Supreme Court formally asking for the provisional arrest of a “Honduran politician” for extradition.

The ministry did not name the politician.

News channel CNN broadcast images of the document, which made a “formal request for provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition to the United States of America of Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado.”

AFP understands that the Supreme Court was due to meet in an emergency session on February 15 to appoint a judge to consider the request.