Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been arrested on drugs charges, BBC News reported.

Police were deployed to his house in the capital Tegucigalpa hours after the US requested his extradition to prevent him leaving.

They moved in when an arrest warrant was issued. He surrendered and was escorted from his home in handcuffs.

Hernandez governed Honduras from 2014 to January this year. He denies the charges against him.

He is accused of having been involved in a drug-trafficking ring which included his younger brother, Tony Hernandez, who last year was sentenced in the US to life in prison.

During Tony Hernandez's trial, prosecutors alleged that the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman had personally handed Tony Hernandez $1m.

According to the prosecutors, "El Chapo" Guzman told the younger Hernandez to pass the money on to his brother Juan Orlando as a bribe.

Honduras has for years been a key transit country for drugs smuggled from South America to the United States, and more recently has also become a place where cocaine is produced.

Juan Orlando Hernandez has always maintained that he did everything in his power to fight drug trafficking and during the administration of President Donald Trump, he enjoyed the support of the US government.

But his relationship with the US soured under President Joe Biden.

Last week, the US state department revealed that Hernandez had been added to a list of people barred from entering the US over alleged corrupt activities.