Honduras on Thursday turned over to U.S. authorities a reputed drug kingpin from Guatemala who was arrested here in May.

Mario Ponce was taken by helicopter from the National Penitentiary, north of Tegucigalpa, to the joint U.S.-Honduran airbase at Palmerola, where U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were waiting, Security Ministry official Danilo Orellana told reporters.

The chopper carrying Ponce was escorted by two U.S. Army helicopters.