DAY SEVEN: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez

What Happened Today:

• Honduran historian Darío Euraque finished on the stand

• Protected witness “Jose Sánchez” began to testify

Key Details That Surfaced:

• The protected witness heard President Juan Orlando Hernandez make several shocking statements in different meetings held in the offices of the rice company, Graneros Nacionales in Choloma, including:

  • That JOH had plans to stay in power for 25 years; had put Oscar Chinchilla as Attorney General to “protect them and to avoid charges”; and that together, Chinchilla and Mauricio Oliva (the current President of Congress) were working to amend laws in their favor.

  • JOH boasted about how he was robbing the social security funds and claimed: “we are stealing better than in Callejas times and no one can stop us.”

  • JOH said: “We are going to shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos and they won’t even know it.”

  • In a meeting with businessman Fuad Jarufe and Leopoldo Crivelli (current mayor of Choloma), JOH said: “The Honduran people are idiots, give them a piece of meat, a beer, and they will give you their vote”

• Julio Cesar Barahona, a former member of the Judiciary Council received a bribe from GFR and was instructed by “his boss” (understood to be President Juan Orlando Hernandez) to assist in cleaning up Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez’s criminal record in relation to his drug trafficking activities.

• On two occasions, GFR met with JOH in Graneros Nacionales and according to the witness, gave JOH two bribes: One for $10,000 and the second for $15,000. The witness made two copies of the videos tapes of the security cameras of one of these two meetings. He gave one to Prosecutor Marlene Banegas [murdered in October 2014] and another to Cristian Ayala [no details given about this person but could be the son of a Sub-Commissioner of the Police, Cristian Ayala Vigil, who was murdered in June 2015].

• The witness found a box in the Graneros Nacionales’s office with police vests and army and police uniforms in it. It was addressed to GFR and a label saying it was from the 105 Military Brigade, formerly commanded by Hector Orlando Ponce Fonseca (the former head of the Honduran military).

What Will Happen Tomorrow:

• Protected witness “Jose Sánchez” will continue

• Another witness will be called (possibly the second protected witness)

Picture: From Pro-Honduras Network

More Details

Protected Witness “Jose Sanchez” (a pseudonym)

• 45 years old. He lived in Honduras for 40 years before relocating to the US in 2015. He fled Honduras because he felt his life was in danger. He was a witness to two meetings between Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) and Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR)

• Occupation: Accountant

• Was an employee of Graneros Nacionales for 15 years. His job was to prepare financial statements and control the company’s income and expenses.

Graneros Nacionales S.A. de C.V.

• Located in Choloma on the highway heading to Puerto Cortés.

• Fuad Jarufe Larach was the owner of Graneros Nacionales. His children also work there including Jorge Jarufe and John Jarufe (an engineer)

Bringing Money to the Graneros Nacionales’ Office

• The witness met GFR in ~2003 when Jorge Jarufe, Fuad Jarufe’s younger sons, brought him to the Graneros Nacionales office. GFR started going to Graneros Nacionales once a week. Sometimes GFR would arrive there with one other person.

• GFR would visit John Jarufe and sometimes bring money with him.

• He would bring money wrapped in rubber bands and in $20 bills totalling between $10,000 to $150,000 approximately 2 or 3 times/month.

• GFR eventually started going to the office every day but still only bring money 2 or 3 times/month.

  • The witness would receive the money, organize the bills, count it, and deposit it and then give GFR a cheque in Lempiras.

• GFR last time went into the office in approximately 2014.

• GFR spoke on the phone about Los Cachiros in the presence of the witness. He told the person he was talking to, that “he would soon get on his feet because he was going to work with Los Cachiros”

• The witness believed that “getting on his feet” meant that he was going to do financially well.

 The Cattle Truck Accident on the Highway

• A white transportation truck used to transport cattle was involved in an accident on the highway to Puerto Cortés.

• The witness went to speak with GFR’s employee following the accident, who told the witness that his boss was mad because his deal had fallen through (“se habia caido la vuelta”). According to the witness, this is a common phrase in Honduras in the type of business that GFR was involved in. The witness understood it to mean that the drugs had been seized.

• The witness saw GFR is his boss’s (Fuad jarufe) office that same day. He was upset. The witness heard him talking about Los Cachiros on the phone. At the time, Los Cachiros were “the most powerful drug trafficking gang in Honduras.”

Los Cachiros’s Business with Graneros Nacionales

• The witness met Santos Isidro Rivera Maradiaga, the youngest of the Cachiro brothers in approximately 2012 in Graneros Nacionales. When first meeting him, the witness didn’t know who he was.

  • Santos Isidro R.M. went to Graneros Nacionales to sell a load of rice. He asked the witness to prepared cheque for him. The witness got upset at this because he was eating lunch and that his lunch break wasn’t being respected [a sacred time for many in Honduras]

  • The witness prepared the cheque in his office and went to his boss’s office to get him to sign it. When he entered his boss’s office, his boss asked the witness if he knew Los Cachiros. The witness responded that he didn’t know any of them. His boss then pointed to Santos Isidro and said “that’s Cachirin” [the small Cachiro]. The witness testified that he felt scared.

• Santos Isidro came to Graneros Nacionales with GFR to sell approximately 500 cattle

  • He was paid less than 50% of the actual price (~3000 Lps) of each head. At the time a head of cattle cost approximately 7,500 Lps.

  • The witness believed it was cattle used for drug trafficking

• GFR and Santos Isidro came together to Graneros Nacionales two more times.

Delivering Money to the Drug Lab

• His boss, Fuad Jarufe, asked him on two occasions to deliver money to Cerro Negro [the location of the drug lab]. This occurred before the drug lab was raided. The drug lab was raided/discovered in 2011.

• The first time, Fuad Jarufe asked the witness to do him a favor and take the money to GFR’s property. The witness was told that the money was the payroll for GFR’s employees. It totaled 14,000 Lps. The money was packaged in a manila folder in several denominations. The Cerro Negro property was located close to the company. The witness went alone and unarmed.

  • Cerro Negro is located close to the community of La Jutosa, near Puerto Cortés and Choloma.

  • Upon arriving, a person approached the witness and asked him what he wanted. The person was dressed like “someone from the city” [in more formal attire] and armed with a semi-automatic pistol. The witness saw others in the property but from a distance. They were armed with AK47s and were dressed like people from the city. The witness told the person that approached that he brought the money. He handed him the money and left.

• The second time he visited the location of the drug lab was approximately 3 months after the first visit. His boss, Fuad Jarufe asked him to take money to GFR again for payroll.

  • The witness took 17,000 Lps packed in a manila envelop in several dominations. He went by himself.. When he arrived, the same, armed person (from the first visit) approached him and asked him what he wanted. The witness told him that he had brought the money. He turned around and left.

  • The witness saw this man in approximately 3 other occasions in Graneros Nacionales. He was with GFR and was armed.

The Raid on the Drug Lab and Meeting with Julio César Barahona (former member of the Honduran Judiciary Council)

• The witness learned of the raid of GFR’s drug lab from a TV program in 2011.

• He saw GFR approximately 30 to 40 days after the raid in the Graneros Nacionales office. It was not normal for GFR to be away from the Graneros Nacionales office for such a long period of time at that point.

• GFR was at the round table in his boss’s office when Julio Cesar Barahona arrived. According to the witness, Barahona was appointed by Juan Orlando Hernandez in his position in the judiciary.

• The witness was seated in front of his boss’s desk when Barahona entered the room and said “my boss is sending me here to help the guy any way that I can.”

  • The witness understood “the boss” to be Juan Orlando Hernandez and the “guy” to be GFR.

  • The witness understood this to mean that he was going to wipe the defendant’s record clean.

• The witness left and later, was called to make out a cheque to Barahona for 30,000 Lps from the GFR’s account. He made the cheque, took it to his boss’s office for his signature and the witness gave it to Barahona.

  • The cheque was made out to Barahona from the Graneros Nacionales’s account because GFR asked Fuad Jarufe for a loan. The witness was asked to charge the amount to GFR’s account. GFR would make sporadic payments to his account in $20 bills.

Fuad Jarufe’s Support for the National Party

• Jarufe supported the National Party and made financial contributions to politicians, particularly to JOH.

JOH’s Trips To Graneros Nacionales

• JOH would go to Graneros Nacionales “on many occasions”

• He would arrive in helicopters – a military helicopter and on two occasions, a blue helicopter. He would land on the empty lot next to his boss’s office. He arrived with his armed bodyguards and 2-3 people from Tegucigalpa.

• JOH would go to Graneros Nacionales to receive campaign contributions and for meetings at the National Party headquarters in Choloma.

• JOH received cheques for 250,000 Lps from Graneros Nacionales on a monthly basis during his Presidential campaign in 2013.

• When he was running for President in 2013, the witness saw JOH on several occasions.

Meeting With JOH at Graneros Nacionales and JOH’s Statements on Various Topics

• The witness heard JOH talk about what he would do if he won the Presidency. JOH spoke on many occasions about being untouchable.

• JOH told Fuad Jarufe that he had plans to stay in power for a minimum of 25 years and would do whatever it took to do that. But that he needed the support of the military and businessman because “the business was too good to let it go in 4 years”

• JOH mentioned Oscar Chinchilla when talking about staying in power. JOH said that he had Chinchilla in that position to protect them and to avoid charges against them.

• JOH also mentioned Mauricio Oliva (current President of Congress) when talking about staying in power. He said that Mauricio Oliva, together with Chinchilla, were working on amending the laws in their favor.

• JOH also mentioned Rafael Callejas Romero [deceased, former President of Honduras; former President of FENAFUTH (National Soccer League), accused in the US for wire fraud, etc]. The witness was in a meeting with Fuad Jarufe, JOH, and other individuals from Tegucigalpa. He heard JOH boasting about how he was robbing the social security funds and other funds and said “we are stealing better than in Callejas times and no one can stop us.”

• The witness saw Leopoldo Crivelli (nickname: Polo), the current mayor of Choloma in Fuad Jarufe’s office with JOH when JOH was running for President. The conversation was outlined as such:

  • At the round table, JOH said “so Polo are you going to run again or what?”

  • Polo responded: “Don’t be a fool, the Honduran people have opened their eyes.

  • JOH responded: “The Honduran people are idiots, give them a piece of meat, a beer, and they will give you their vote” as he smiled.

First Meeting between JOH and GFR in Graneros Nacionales

• First meeting occurred when JOH was running for the Presidency. The meeting took place at the round table in Fuad Jarufe’s office in Graneros Nacionales. Attendees: Jarufe, JOH, GFR, and witness.

  • Jarufe informed witness that JOH would be coming in the afternoon and that JOH wanted to “buy dollars from them.” JOH arrived in a military helicopter. The witness was going to receive the dollars and change them into Lempiras.

  • The witness entered the office and was told to sit and wait. He sat on the blue couch across from the round table. He was approximately 1 to 1.5 meters from JOH. He immediately felt fear because he was witnessing a Presidential candidate meeting with a drug trafficker (referring to GFR).

  • GFR addressed JOH as “Juancho,” a name used only by those that were close to JOH. In the meeting, JOH said he was interested in having GFR and his drug lab work for him (JOH).

  • JOH told GFR that he shouldn’t worry about the law because Oscar Chinchilla was there to protect them and that shipments of drugs would go through different routes and will be protected by military and police. JOH said that by the time the US knew the truth, they would have modified the laws in their favor and that Oscar Chinchilla and Mauricio Oliva were working on this and they would be untouchable.

  • JOH then took a sip of his drink and said: “we are going to shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos and they won’t even know it.”

  • The witness understood “amend laws” to mean that they would modify the law so that they wouldn’t be charged and would get rid of extradition.

  • JOH mentioned his brother, Tony Hernandez in this meeting. He said that he would give GFR Tony’s cell phone number and he would be at his disposal. GFR should follow Tony Hernandez’s instructions to transport drugs.

  • GFR then took out his briefcase and gave $15,000 in $20 bills to JOH. JOH then handed them to the witness. GFR said that the money was to support JOH’s campaign. JOH wanted the money in cash.

• There was a second meeting between JOH and GFR. In the morning, the witness’s boss called to let him know that JOH would be arriving to exchange dollars for Lempiras. The witness saw JOH and GFR in his boss’s office talking at the round table. He entered the office and sat down to wait on the blue couch.

  • They were talking about politics. GFR took a bunch of $20 out of his briefcase and gave them to JOH. GFR told him that it was to help with his campaign.

  • The witness counted it and organized it. It totaled $10,000.

Videos of the Meetings Between JOH and GFR

• There were security cameras inside Graneros Nacionales.

• One of the meetings between JOH and GFR was filmed. The witness got a copy of the video of their second meeting (above) as well as the other meeting where JOH spoke about stealing from social security.

• He obtained a copy of the video when John Jarufe, who was in charge of the cameras, gave him the pin number for the cameras.

• He made two copies of each of the two videos. He gave the copies to:

  • Prosecutor Marlene Banegas [murdered in October 2014]: She was given the copy of the video of JOH talking about stealing from social security

  • Cristian Ayala [no details given about this person but could be the son of Sub-Commissioner, Cristian Ayala Vigil, murdered in June 2015]: He was given a copy of the video of GFR meeting with JOH

• The witness was unable to get a copy of the 1st meeting between JOH and GFR. He could not find it.

GFR Mentions Ex-Honduran Police Commissioner Leonel Sauceda and his brother, Nelvin Sauceda

• GFR told the witness to write down Leonel Sauceda’s [in prison in Honduras on money laundering charges] phone number in case anything was needed while the witness’s boss, Fuad Jarufe was on ha trip to the US for a medical check-up

• The witness saw GFR with Sub-Commissioner, Nelvin Sauceda [in December 2019, Sauceda was named the director of the maximum-security prison in Siria] in Jarufe’s office.

Box of Military and Police Gear for GFR

• The witness found a medium-sized cardboard box in his boss’s office in 2014. He opened it and took it into his own office thinking that it was some stationary that he had ordered.

• The witness discovered that there were police vests and military and police uniforms inside. There was a piece of paper inside saying it was for GFR and something (unclear) that said ‘105 Brigade’ (the infantry brigade located in San Pedro Sula). The witness closed the box and put it back in its place.

• At the time, Hector Ponce Fonseca was head of the 105 Brigade.

Weapons in GFR’s Vehicle

• The witness got into GFR’s car on one occasion to go and pick up payroll money. There were no body guards in Graneros Nacionales so he went in GFR’s car along with GFR and his driver.

• The witness sat in the front passenger seat. He saw a lot of weapons in the car. The driver had a shotgun at the door, a semi-automatic on his legs and an AK47 by the stick shift.

• GFR got into the car and showed the witness a military grade, olive green weapon. He pulled it out from under the seat and said: “I hope someone crosses my path so I can debut this little toy that my friend gave me.” The witness understood “the friend” to be someone in the military

• The witness also saw GFR carrying a green weapon while in Monte Rey at his boss’s ranch. 

Last Contact With GFR

• When the witness left Graneros Nacionales, GFR had 480,000 Lempiras in several accounts.

• The witness last saw GFR in 2015 during Easter week in the Puerto Cortés Sailing Club. GFR was boarding his yacht and was with individuals armed with semi-automatic pistols.