Alan Garcia granted hundreds of convicted drug traffickers early release the last time he was Peru’s president, pursuing a clemency campaign believed unparalleled in the world that he said was giving the deserving a second chance while easing prison overcrowding.

Now the “narco pardons” are haunting Garcia as he seeks to return to the presidency for a third term, with the officials who arranged the releases on trial for allegedly running a get-out-of-jail-for-pay scheme.