The story of a major drug bust in Venezuela on the 13th of this month has led all the way back to Belize. The seizure of 1.400 kilos of cocaine by Venezuelan security forces was indeed something for that country's government to celebrate, especially after coming under constant criticism from Washington for its shortcomings in combatting the narco-trafficking.
But the story took another twist after that country's Minister of the Interior and Justice departments, Tareck El Aissami, announced that the Beechcraft 300 aircraft used to transport the drugs, carried call letters belonging to the Beechcraft 300, similar to the one involved in one of Belize's biggest drug busts on the southern highway last November.
An investigation by Globovision, a Venezuelan TV revealed that the call letters that identified the Beechcraft 300 captured by Venezuelan authorities, are really those belonging to the one currently in possession by Belize's Defence Force.
The BDF's Acting Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel, James Requena told Seven News today while there might be copycat call letters on both planes, one thing is sure, and that is the Beechcraft 300 involved in last November's drug bust on the Southern Highway is still in this country's possession.
Lieutenant Colonel James Requena - BDF's Acting Chief of Staff
"The discrepancy, from our point of view, would be the tail number on the aircraft. As you can clearly see, on the tail of the aircraft that we have behind us the numbers were stickered on. These stickers can be made or bought by anyone and placed on the aircraft. When you're flying an aircraft with stickered numbers, it is hard to verify that it is stickered and not the original number. But this aircraft has been here since November 14, when it was flown from the Southern Highway, and it has been here at the BDF Airwing."
Jim McFadzean
"Are you saying that these letters that are on the tail-wing can be changed like a license plate on a car?"
Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Yes, definitely, the tail letters can be changed. All you need to do is find a legally registered one, take a photograph of it, and you make your own stickers, and stick them on. When the plane is flying, from afar, the numbers look alike. All you have to be careful with is that you don't land at an authorized airstrip, and another aircraft is there, or has been to landing site, because they will know for sure that you are flying an aircraft that is not duly registered."
Jim McFadzean
"How do Civil Aviation Authorities verify the legal registration for these aircrafts."
Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Well, from my understanding, Civil Aviation is associated/affiliated with the International Aviation Association. And they keep track of all aircraft, from the manufacture, to whom they are sold, to the final destination. So any aircraft that is made has a paper trail, or an electronic trail, in these days that can be followed."
Jim McFadzean
"And have we determined here in Belize, the origin of this plane, the proper authorized registration paper trail, so to speak, that we have in our possession."
Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"At present, we haven't fully verified the exact ownership, but from the model and the company, we know when it was manufactured and everything."
Jim McFadzean
"At the least right now, you can that the plane that the Venezuelan Authorities are saying is in Venezuela is physically here in Belize."
Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Most definitely, the aircraft that we have here is the aircraft that we brought in on the 14th from the Southern Highway, and the aircraft that they have - I'm not sure which aircraft they are presenting to their people and to the international community."
Requena says the BDF hopes to eventually take ownership of the aircraft which they plan to use in some cases for Troop Deployment and VIP transport.
Channel 7
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