7 News Belize

Another Burnt Up Drug Plane - This Time It’s Sarteneja
posted (December 16, 2019)
Another suspected drug plane has landed in northern Belize, and this one was also burnt up.

But, this one didn't land on some bushy improvised airstrip - it was on a proper paved runway in the village of Sarteneja.

Police told us they got the call at around 5:00 and found the plane on fire - with its contents gone:

ACP Joseph Myvette - Head, NCIB
"This morning, shortly after 5 a.m., Corozal Police were called to the Sarteneja area where, on the Sarteneja Airstrip, a burnt aircraft, twin-engine, was seen on the airstrip, still engulfed in flames. A search conducted on the area revealed several items, empty buckets, and other paraphernalia. So far, no one has been detained, and the investigation is ongoing. What we know is that shortly after 2 a.m., the police were alerted of an aircraft track en route to Belize. As a result, they set up operations at several parts it was believed that this aircraft would have landed. However, they were later informed shortly before 5 a.m., that the aircraft seemingly landed on the Sarteneja Airstrip sometime around 4:15 a.m. So, it is an ongoing investigation at this point."

Reporter
"Sir, any identifying features or were the plane so destroyed that you can't even...?"

ACP Joseph Myvette
"It would have been more or less the same as the last one, which was that about 3/4 has been destroyed, and it was still engulfed in flames when the police arrived at the scene."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, is there any truth to the report that the drugs came on the plane, and then were transferred directly into the sea for forwarding movement into Mexico?"

ACP Joseph Myvette
"Well, that is a part of the investigation we're following. That information is out there, and as a result, we're following up on that as well."

Reporter
"So do you all know definitively that a drug cargo arrived on that plane?"

ACP Joseph Myvette
"At this point, no."

Reporter
"So, it's just information right now."

ACP Joseph Myvette
"Yes."

The plane is a A KING AIR 300 twin engine turbo prop. It's identical to the one that was caught on the southern highway with about two tonnes of cocaine in 2010.

Here's what police found in the area: (25) small metal buckets, one bucket with steel spikes (2) five gallon containers, one of them with aviation fluid, (24) rechargable led lights and a few other items.

Notably, plane landings are also reported in nearby communities in Mexico and Guatemala this morning as well.

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