India, July 26 -- Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez is set to return to his homeland following a high-profile executive pardon granted by US President Donald Trump.

Hernandez, who governed the Central American nation from 2014 to 2022, was previously serving a 45-year sentence in a US federal penitentiary after a Manhattan federal jury convicted him of conspiring to import hundreds of tons of cocaine into the US.

Arrested in February 2022 shortly after handing over power, Hernandez was extradited to the US to face sweeping narcotics and weapons charges. Federal prosecutors described his administration as a state-sponsored drug trafficking network that leveraged public institutions to protect cartels. However, US President...