Aljazeera
New York City, United States – The allegations shocked the courtroom. Last week, a confidential witness in a high-profile criminal case alleged that an Israeli embassy participated in a money-laundering scheme linked to the illicit trade of cocaine.
It was a major twist in the trial of Juan Orlando Hernandez, a former Honduran president convicted on Friday of participating in a “violent drug-trafficking conspiracy” while in office.
On the witness stand sat a convicted drug trafficker, going by the pseudonym Luis Perez. Originally from Colombia, Perez appeared in a United States district court in New York to testify against Hernandez, whom he accused of being involved in drug trafficking operations.
But as the defence team cross-examined Perez about his relationship with Hernandez, he revealed another alleged participant in the scheme: the Israeli embassy in Colombia.
“We worked with officials at the Israeli embassy,” Perez told defence lawyer Raymond Colon in Spanish while on the stand. “The woman who transported money for us from Honduras to Colombia was an official in the Israeli embassy.”
Perez, who was affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel, accused the unnamed official of laundering between $100m and $150m between 2008 and 2010.
Israeli embassy officials in Colombia declined to comment for Al Jazeera’s story. And Perez’s allegations could not be independently verified.
But experts told Al Jazeera the testimony raised wider questions about Israel’s involvement in Latin America — and how government and drug smuggling in the region have intertwined.
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