Federal prosecutors in New York say an accountant witnessed meetings between Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez and a drug trafficker in which they planned the trafficking of cocaine to the United States.

Assistant US Attorney Jacob Gutwillig said on Tuesday during his opening statement at the trial of accused drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez that the accountant was present when Mr Hernandez allegedly said he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos”.

Mr Hernandez has previously denied any involvement with drug traffickers and has not been charged.

US prosecutors have alleged that Mr Hernandez’s political rise was financed in part by drug traffickers.

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