HONDURAN President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes, according to a defendant in a drug-trafficking trial that opened in the United States on Monday.

Mr Hernandez denied the charge, insisting it is “100 per cent false and appears to be based on the lies of confessed criminals who seek revenge or to reduce their sentences.”

His accuser Geovanny Fuentes has pleaded “not guilty” to cocaine-smuggling charges. The 50-year-old, who was arrested in Miami last year, is also accused of weapons offences.

His testimony implicates Mr Hernandez and several other senior members of the Honduran government. Despite the allegations, Honduran president is not listed as a defendant. 

The papers lodged in New York accuse him of saying that he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos” by flooding the US with cocaine.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been investigating Mr Hernandez on suspicion of drug smuggling and money laundering since he came to power in 2013. 

Los Cachiros cartel leader Leonel Rivera, who will testify in the trial, said that his criminal organisation had paid massive bribes in exchange for law enforcement protection, including to avoid extradition to the US.

Senior military, police, political and business figures are implicated in claims of money laundering and bribery. Mr Hernandez is also accused of having people killed to protect his alleged drug business.

US prosecutors said that the Honduran government had “hardly been forthcoming” with help for their investigations, with the government failing to comply with requests to extradite potential witnesses against the president.

The case could complicate plans by US President Joe Biden to invest some $4 billion (£2.8bn) into Central America to address the migrant crisis. 

Last month, Senate Democrats passed a Bill to sanction Mr Hernandez for alleged drug trafficking and corruption and cut off financial support and ammunition sales to the Honduran security forces.