INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION · CENTRAL AMERICA
Extradition from Honduras to the United States.
U.S.-Honduras Extradition Convention (1909), supplemented in 1927 controls the request. Article VIII says neither party is bound to surrender its own citizens. The arrest clock and local review path decide what happens next.
THE SHORT ANSWER
In force No official average is reliable. The two-month treaty period concerns evidence following preliminary arrest, not final surrender. Contested hearings, plenary appeal, constitutional questions, local charges or sentences, old-treaty offense matching, evidence and translation, assurances, and transfer logistics can produce widely different timelines.
U.S.-Honduras Extradition Convention (1909), supplemented in 1927
Effective: 1912-07-10; supplement effective 1928-06-05
WHAT COUNSEL CHECKS FIRST
The active paper. The country. The clock.
THE RESPONSE ROOM
What has to be established first.
FIRST HOURS
Identify the legal basis for custody
Record the arresting authority, court, case number, custody location, interpreter need, and any hearing date. Ask for counsel before discussing the foreign accusation.
WHO DECIDES
The local record controls
The Supreme Court receives the request through the competent channel and designates a justice as Juez Natural. Under the 2013 Auto Acordado, that judge reviews the request, orders apprehension if proper, advises the person of the request and rights, sets provisional detention, holds an oral adversarial hearing, and issues a reasoned decision. Treaty rules prevail where they prescribe procedure; otherwise the Auto Acordado and criminal procedure fill gaps. A final favorable ruling is communicated for coordination of surrender.
THE CLOCK
Deadlines are event-specific
Articles XI-XII permit a preliminary warrant based on a telegraphic request or declaration. A judge may hold the person for no more than two months to permit production of legal evidence; if it is not produced by then, release is required unless examination of the charges is actually underway. Honduras's 2013 Auto Acordado directs the natural judge to use the maximum period in the applicable treaty. No official average is reliable. The two-month treaty period concerns evidence following preliminary arrest, not final surrender. Contested hearings, plenary appeal, constitutional questions, local charges or sentences, old-treaty offense matching, evidence and translation, assurances, and transfer logistics can produce widely different timelines.
DOCUMENT AUDIT
Build the file before the argument
Preserve the notice or warrant, charging papers, identity records, release terms, travel documents, medical records, and every dated communication. Do not alter or delete evidence.
FOR FAMILIES COORDINATING ACROSS BORDERS
Confirm the exact legal name, detention location, medication needs, next hearing, local lawyer, and one reliable contact channel. A consulate may assist with welfare and contact; it cannot cancel the local case.
02 · THE PROCESS
How the Honduras process moves.
Judicial and executive stages
The Supreme Court receives the request through the competent channel and designates a justice as Juez Natural. Under the 2013 Auto Acordado, that judge reviews the request, orders apprehension if proper, advises the person of the request and rights, sets provisional detention, holds an oral adversarial hearing, and issues a reasoned decision. Treaty rules prevail where they prescribe procedure; otherwise the Auto Acordado and criminal procedure fill gaps. A final favorable ruling is communicated for coordination of surrender.
Appeal and review
Only an appeal lies from the first-instance final decision. It must be filed with the Juez Natural within three days with stated grievances; the other party receives three days to respond. The full Supreme Court may affirm, reverse or reform, and the Auto Acordado states that no further ordinary appeal lies.
03 · DEFENSES
The request still has to survive the record.
ISSUE
Treaty coverage
The charged conduct, punishment threshold, documents, and identity must fit the controlling treaty and local implementing law.
ISSUE
Dual criminality
The bilateral convention is list-based rather than a modern blanket dual-criminality treaty. Article I requires treaty-listed conduct and evidence sufficient under the requested state's law; several listed categories expressly require punishment in both states. The 1927 supplement added illicit narcotics trafficking and offenses against bankruptcy laws. A later multilateral convention may sometimes provide an additional basis, but it cannot be presumed.
ISSUE
Political and protected offenses
Article III excludes political crimes and connected acts, while attacks on a head of state or family are not political merely for that reason. The bilateral treaty has no broad standalone military or fiscal exceptions. Because coverage is list-based, fiscal or ordinary military conduct must fit a listed category or a separate applicable convention. Article V addresses lapse of time and Article VI permits deferral for local proceedings or sentence.
ISSUE
Evidence and process
The request can be tested against the treaty standard, authentication requirements, limitation rules, and procedural guarantees that apply locally.
ISSUE
Human rights and punishment
Honduras Constitution Article 66 prohibits the death penalty. The 1909 treaty contains no modern capital-punishment article, so capital exposure should be addressed through constitutional review and a case-specific assurance that death will not be imposed or carried out. The Auto Acordado expressly guarantees innocence, counsel, physical and psychological integrity, equality, silence, a reasonable time and other constitutional and treaty rights.
ISSUE
Specialty and assurances
Yes. Article IV states categorically that no person shall be tried for an offense other than the one for which the person was surrendered. Any waiver, consent or later charge requires case-specific legal analysis.
04 · PUBLIC EXAMPLES
Recent public extradition records.
These examples come from public government records and are not presented as Spodek Law Group matters or results.
Olvin Javier Velasquez Maldonado
cocaine-distribution conspiracy linked to a vessel carrying migrants
Rene Javier Santos Alfaro
drug trafficking involving cocaine allegedly imported by commercial aircraft
Eswin Mejia
Nebraska vehicular homicide and failure to appear
Gustavo Erazo
conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin and cocaine
Javier Marin-Gonzales
distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl
05 · THE CHARGES
What appears in the requests.
A Red Notice is not the extradition order.
A Red Notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, subject to each country's law. It is not an international arrest warrant, and it does not replace the treaty papers or the local extradition case.
The notice, the provisional-arrest request, and the surrender proceeding are separate records. Each can carry different defects, deadlines, and remedies.
07 · THIRD-COUNTRY RISK
Transit can expose a person to another country's arrest rules, immigration powers, or provisional request. This page gives no route or evasion advice. Review the actual warrant, notice, release conditions, and jurisdictions with counsel before travel.
08 · QUESTIONS
What families and targets ask first.
IMMEDIATE EXTRADITION QUESTIONS
No. A Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest, not an international arrest warrant or a finding of extraditability. Honduras's arrest law, the treaty record, and the local surrender process still control.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
It can. Border screening may expose a national warrant, INTERPOL data, immigration authority, or a provisional request under another country's law. This is not travel or evasion advice; the actual records and jurisdictions require review before travel.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Release depends on Honduras's current law, the arrest authority, flight-risk findings, and the stage of the request. No general website answer can predict it. Local counsel should address custody while U.S. counsel verifies the federal matter and request.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
Not automatically. Extradition, asylum, immigration removal, and non-refoulement are separate legal systems that may interact. The forum, protected status, alleged conduct, treaty, and current human-rights evidence determine which arguments are available.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
COUNTRY PROCEDURE
Yes. The 1909 convention entered into force July 10, 1912 and its 1927 supplement entered into force June 5, 1928.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.govhistory.state.govuscode.house.gov
Yes in constitutionally authorized categories. The treaty does not oblige surrender of citizens, but amended Article 102 permits it for specified serious crimes and current practice includes surrender of Honduran nationals.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.govwww.tsc.gob.hn
No. The bilateral treaty is list-based; conduct must fit Article II as supplemented, although a separate applicable multilateral convention may sometimes supply another basis.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.govhistory.state.gov
Yes. Articles XI-XII allow a preliminary warrant; detention to obtain legal evidence may not exceed two months, subject to Article XII's ongoing-examination language.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
The Supreme Court designates a justice as natural judge to conduct the first-instance hearing and decide; a plenary Supreme Court panel resolves any appeal.
AUTHORITIESwww.tsc.gob.hnwww.oas.org
Yes. The sole ordinary appeal must be filed within three days; the full Supreme Court decides it, with no further ordinary appeal under the Auto Acordado.
AUTHORITIESwww.oas.org
Yes. Article III excludes political offenses and connected acts, subject to its rule concerning attacks on a head of state or family.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
Honduras constitutionally prohibits death. Because the old treaty lacks a modern capital clause, the required protection should be established through constitutional review and a specific assurance.
AUTHORITIESwww.tsc.gob.hnhistory.state.gov
Article IV's specialty language limits trial to the offense for which surrender occurred; any consent or waiver question must be checked in the actual surrender order.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
No official average controls. The treaty's two-month preliminary period is not a final deadline; hearing, appeal, local cases, offense matching and assurances affect total time.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.govwww.tsc.gob.hn
09 · RESEARCH LIMITS
What the public record does not settle.
10 · SOURCES
Every material claim should have a file behind it.
11 · REGIONAL INDEX
Related country files.
WHO REVIEWS THE FIRST CALL
Start with the paper, the posture, and the first deadline.
Todd A. Spodek leads the firm's federal defense work. The team identifies the active U.S. matter, the country and custody posture, and where appropriately licensed local counsel is required. No webpage can replace review of the actual request.
Todd Spodek - biography and record →SECURE CONSULTATION REQUEST
Put the actual extradition record in front of counsel.
Tell us whether this is an inquiry, Red Notice, detention, hearing, or appeal. The intake team will identify conflicts and the right next step. Urgent custody and hearing matters should call.
212 300 5196 - urgent matters →