An ally of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, convicted of drug trafficking by a court in New York, was extradited to the United States on Wednesday, police in the Latin American country announced, a week after announcing the cancellation of a bilateral agreement between Tegucigalpa and Washington.

Mario Jose Calix, 42, handed himself over to US authorities at an airport in Palmerola, north of the capital, and boarded a flight to the US.

The extradition of the alleged drug trafficker will be the last one from Honduras to the US, after the cancellation of the bilateral agreement between the two states, the representative of Honduran justice, Melvin Duarte, explained to AFP.

Mr Calix, whose extradition was sought in 2019 by US authorities, was arrested on June 21 and his extradition was ordered by a judge on August 16.

On the day of his arrest, Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez said he belonged to “the criminal structure” of former President Hernandez, who went the same way shortly after his term ended.

Mr. Calix’s extradition was sought by the federal court for the Southern District of New York — the same one that sentenced the right-wing former president in June to 45 years in prison for drug-related offenses.

The extradition came a week after the Honduran president announced her government was canceling an extradition deal to prevent its use against loyal soldiers and a threatened military coup.

“There is a conspiracy against my government,” Xiomara Castro said, hinting at Washington’s involvement. A day earlier, he declared that “the meddling and interventionism of the USA”, their “intention to direct the policy of Honduras”, is an “intolerable” phenomenon.

The bilateral treaty with the USA, signed in 1912, was characterized by the most important weapons in the fight against the “narco-state” that Honduras became during the presidency of Hernández (2014-2022).

About fifty Honduran nationals have been deported to the US since 2014 under the deal, including Mr. Hernandez himself.