According to Insight Crime, Magdaleno Mezza’s widow confirmed that JOH was mentioned in the narcobooks.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras.– Once again the accounting books or calls “Narco Notebooks”, also known as Neri Lopez Sanabria – Mezza of the Magdalene– and his wife, Erica Bandy, came into the limelight again, this time to be part of the evidence in the drug-trafficking trial against the former president. JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZWhich starts this Monday, February 12.

“Narco notebooks” used by United States prosecutors in case against ex-deputy Juan Antonio “Tony” HernandezTriggering the 30-year sentence, there will once again be an incriminating element, but this time against the former ruler.

In a recent publication on the Insight crime site, which revealed the interview Bendy had with his investigators in 2019 and published this February 9, 2024, new elements have come to light, confirmed by Magdaleno Mezza’s widow whose name Joh It appears in the above books of account.

The woman died at the hands of a hitman on June 26, 2023, while she was in a pastry shop, the same as her husband, who was killed on October 26, 2019 in El Pozo I maximum security prison. Before her murder, she made several revelations in interviews.

Bendy was, without a doubt, the only person—after Meza—who could have accurately interpreted the contents of the ledgers, but she was eliminated.

InsightCrime obtained a full copy of the accounting books, among other documents, and learned first-hand why Neri Lopez Sanabria and Erica Bendy were feared dead—as well as because of their connection to evidence that could be key to the crime. Hernandez’s upcoming trial.

Erica Bandy revealed that by 2012, her husband had “become a big-time businessman. That same year, he met Hernandez and his brother Tony.

Although the woman did not confirm whether she and her husband made illegal contributions to the JOH campaign, instead, Tony Hernandez became a regular figure in her life.

Bandy said they saw each other at campaign events, including a National Party dinner hosted at the home of Alexandre Ardon, another drug trafficker and National Party politician. Ardon would become the star witness in the case after turning himself in to the DEA in March 2019. He is expected to testify against Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Tony Hernandez also visited the couple at their farm. “I asked (Lopez), ‘Who’s coming?’” Bendy recalled. “A friend of the campaign,” he replied without revealing his name. Then a helicopter arrived. I thought it had something to do with women. (Tony Hernandez) came down with a white hat.”

“I offered my husband to run for mayor or deputy,” Bendy said. The relationship between Hernández and López (or Meza) continued to the point that he received a Paso Fino horse as a birthday gift from Tony, admired for his unique trot, and a US$20,000 gold Rolex “Presidential” watch from Juan Orlando. .

It was during a military police operation in Santa Barbara on June 6, 2018, when the couple was detained and unable to bribe uniformed officers, that the woman said Neri Lopez cried to her, “They’re going to kill me. “

Although more than US$7,000 in cash and five Rolex watches as well as jewelry were recovered from him, the car he was traveling in was thoroughly searched.

Under the back seat of the Volkswagen, they found about US$200,000 in cash, grenades and eleven accounting books, the famous “narcobooks”. In addition, they discovered that a switch in the Toyota was connected to another in the Volkswagen and, when activated, opened a compartment in the dashboard where they had hidden the weapons, the Insight Crime report shows.

“When the agents took the evidence to their office, they reviewed the ledgers and found something more important. At that time, the case of Tony Hernandez was known in Honduras, so while checking or reviewing the ledgers, I found the name of Tony Hernandez,” one The agent will testify in court later.

Another detail that caught the attention of most agents was that many of the entries included payments to a person known as JOH, the name and nickname of the then President. JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ.

Magdaleno Mezza’s widow also suggested that there was an attempted cover-up from the Attorney General’s Office in favor of the Hernandez brothers, as the notebook was not included in evidence at their first trial.

“Narcobooks” reappeared in the context until the trial of Tony Hernandez. The account books were some of the most damning evidence presented by the prosecution and implicated both brothers. Magdaleno Meza was killed a week after Tony Hernandez was convicted.

After Meza was found dead and Bendy imprisoned, the woman revealed to Insight Crime that the name Tony appearing in numerous entries in the drug book corresponded to Tony Hernandez, a former deputy, and the initials JOH corresponded to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez. But the account books were not the only evidence. The woman, through her attorney, provided a photo of Hernandez outside their home and another photo of what appeared to be a kilogram of cocaine with the initials TH.

Bandy clarified that the entries in JOH’s name corresponded to drug money paid to Juan Orlando Hernandez. His photos and other documents will be tremendous evidence. Erica clarified that the entry in JOH’s name related to drug money paid to Juan Orlando Hernandez. His photos and other documents will be tremendous evidence.

Although the DEA tried to contact her in early 2023, the woman refused to cooperate for fear of retaliation and was only waiting for her parole to leave the country, but in the middle of that year, she was murdered in another crime. . Which was also widely reported. It was announced in a video on social networks.