Teguchigalpa, Nov 28 (IANS): Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said that he was "unjustly" detained at the airport in the capital city of Tegucigalpa due to $18,000 worth of cash in his bag.
"I have been unjustly detained at the Toncontin airport when I was about to travel to Mexico for a PT seminar. The cause is a bag with $18,000 in it, which is not mine," Xinhua news agency quoted the former leader as saying in a tweet on Friday.
The former President who served from 2006 to 2009 was detained and released four hours later, local media reported.
In an effort to control trafficking and money laundering, Honduran law only allows for a maximum of $10,000 to be taken out of the country.
Addressing the media later in the day, Zelaya said that "someone had put the money in his belongings" and that "I know that you cannot travel with that amount of money".
He has urged for an investigation into the matter.