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Posted By: Marty POLICE INVESTIGATE LANDING OF AIRCRAFT - 06/21/11 03:24 AM
Orange Walk Police continue their investigations into the landing of what
is suspected to be a drug plane. 

Manuela Ayuso Cantun reporting...
"A Piper twin engine Mexican plane crash landed in the goat hill area
Orange Walk early yesterday morning. Details are still sketchy as police
continue their investigation but reports are that around 5 Sunday morning
people in the area heard the crashing sound of the plane touching down.
When military and police personnel arrived they found the damaged plane on
its belly off the side of a road. Two miles away, in the bushes, police
found 6 gallons of aviation fuel. No one was found in the area. Love News
understands that a document found in the plane has the craft registered to
Mexican national Joel Romero Juarez. Documents found also suggest that the
pilot might have been Mexican national Julio Ismael Salazar. It is unclear
if or what the plane's cargo might have been. BDF soldiers remain guarding
the damaged plane while preparations are underway for its removal.

Story at http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=14129
Posted By: Marty Re: POLICE INVESTIGATE LANDING OF AIRCRAFT - 06/21/11 12:48 PM

But I It A "Drug Plane"

News rushed out on Sunday morning that another one of those drug planes had landed in Belize. This one touched down on a sugar road behind guinea Grass Village in the Orange Walk district.

Well, we visited the area yesterday, and it didn't touch down, the six seater piper aircraft crash landed. Those experts examining the plane with a prominent Mexican flag emblazoned on the fuselage say it didn't look like any kind of drug plane.

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones shared his thoughts with us:�

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"This twin engine piper aircraft supposedly land here about 05:30 this morning. The police and the BDF responded after they got information that an aircraft probably land here in the area and our troops got here probably around 9 or so this morning. They did an entire sweep of this area, they didn't find anything - no drugs or anything illicit that may have been coming on this cargo. A sweep of the area 2 miles from here they found 6 containers of aviation fuel. Two of them had about 15 gallons of aviation fuel and the other two had about 18 gallons of fuel."

Jules Vasquez
"I saw you here with one of the person from air wing. What is your plan contusion about how it ended in the condition it's in?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"We believe the aircraft landed from right of where I am because there is evidence where it slid from the road because of the rain that had been happening recently in the area. They didn't have good control of what was happening on this feeder road. Because its white mall - it's pretty slippery and so there is evidence that the aircraft started to slide from about 40-50 meters from here until it landed exactly where it is now."

Jules Vasquez
"You think they intended to land here or it was some kind of emergency. What is your theory?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"We believe there was intension to land here because we got information that aircraft landed here before and took off, we didn't catch anything here and there was blue markings on the road with paint which has wash away since the soldiers was here this morning. When they got here they say they saw markings here which was similar blue markings that was found in the same area where the aviation fuel was found."

Jules Vasquez
"It is your belief or have you summarized that it was a drug cargo."

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"Because the size of the aircraft it didn't seem because of the cargo space in there - it doesn't seem as if though it's a drug cargo. It is possible but because of the size I could say it probably wasn't but definitely something illicit was happening on this aircraft."

Jules Vasquez
"Is there any evidence that anyone was hurt when it crash landed?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"No there hasn't been any evidence what so ever."

Jules Vasquez
"Any blood inside the aircraft?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"No blood inside."

Jules Vasquez
"Are you all able to use or salvage anything from this aircraft? How will it be move?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones
"It is a possibility we can salvage from this aircraft but first of all the police needs to finish their investigation before anything is done. We need to find out where this aircraft came from and who owns and why it was here in Belize because what I understand is that the police already came here. the scenes of crime were here and they did an inspection of the aircraft and I think they took some maps from the aircraft which has indication of where the aircraft took off from to where it is now and probably future destination of the aircraft and so until we speak with the police I may know."

According to reports the aircraft was heard as early as 1130 On Saturday night circling. It is Mexican registered. According to information, it was not picked up on local radar system due to the low altitude it circled at.

Channel 7

Posted By: Marty Re: POLICE INVESTIGATE LANDING OF AIRCRAFT - 06/21/11 12:49 PM

Mystery Mexican plane lands; but no one found

A Mexican plane made an emergency landing in Orange Walk Town on Saturday and the first question raised was whether it's another drug plane. Well, tonight that question remains unanswered as it is still not known what cargo was in the plane and no one was found in the area. Police and B.D.F. personnel found the damaged aircraft on the road and six gallons of aviation fuel about two miles in the bushes. The plane is registered to Joel Romero Juarez and documents found inside indicate that the pilot was Julio Ismael Salazar; both men are Mexican nationals. Minister of Police, Doug Singh, down played the landing and referred to information that has been gathered so far.

Doug Singh, Minister of Police

Doug Singh

"We received reports very late on Saturday night, I think around eleven thirty that there was an aircraft flying over a particular area of Belize and so we sent out police officers and B.D.F. to look in the area and they did not come across anything, but the following morning, there was a report that a plane landed in an area called Goat Hill. Goat Hill is an area where BSI grows, does some agriculture, farming of cane. And early in the morning we sent out the Anti Drug Unit along with other police resources and they came across a small piper, a small aircraft. I think it has about four seats and a little longer area in the back where passengers can also sit. So it wouldn't seat more than six people at a maximum; it's one of those very small planes. With all seats intact, its landing gear had been damaged. There was a report the Saturday night that there was an aircraft flying overhead. The weather wasn't the best so it was very difficult to determine if there were any lights or anything on the aircraft. So it could have been an aircraft in trouble or it could have been otherwise. It is difficult to determine at this time, because we have not found any individuals at the aircraft or near the aircraft and we are still investigating the matter to see if anyone would provide information of the whereabouts of at least the pilot and any other passengers that might have been on the plane. There were no casualties, as I said the landing was damaged and all seats were intact so it is not likely the plane was used to transport drugs or any substantial amount of drugs. There is normally evidence with these things and the plane has been checked and we cannot say absolutely, but it doesn't appear to us that it was a plane used to transport drugs. We've contacted the Mexican Embassy. The plane had some registration information and flight plan information which we're confirming with the Mexican Government to determine exactly what may have been the circumstances."

Jose Sanchez

"So it's not a local plane; that's locally registered?"

Doug Singh

"No, it's not."

Jose Sanchez

"At this point, no one has crossed the border to indicate that they had been in a plane accident?"

Doug Singh

"Not to our knowledge."

The plane remains under B.D.F. guard.

Channel 5

Posted By: SFJeff Re: POLICE INVESTIGATE LANDING OF AIRCRAFT - 06/22/11 01:09 AM
It hardly seems worth abandoning a plane worth perhaps $90,000-$100,000 that could what, transport maybe 600, 700, 800 lbs of cocaine at the most?

The police are probably right in that it was most likely just a routine super super late night flight over remote cane fields by an international border. I'm sure the pilot/passengers will come forward, they probably just went to get a soda or something to drink.

Posted By: Kayo Re: POLICE INVESTIGATE LANDING OF AIRCRAFT - 06/22/11 04:43 PM
tentative ID - Piper PA-23-250 Aztec

PIPER PA-23-250

[Linked Image]

The Piper PA-23-250 Aztec is a series of American five-seater twin-engine short-range utility light transport aircraft with liaison capability which entered service in 1954 as a development of the Piper PA-23 Apache. The Piper PA-23-250 is a low-wing cantilever monoplane produced in various models.The Piper PA-23-250 carries a pilot and up to four passengers or freight in the cabin.

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Piper+PA-23-250&offset=0

you can pick one up for $50k to 150k depending on the year, model and specs.

http://www.globalplanesearch.com/piper/piston/twin/large_touring/pa_23_250_aztec.htm

here's a REALLY cherry one for half a million bucks:

http://www.aircraftsalesworld.com/listing/1491/PIPER_TURBO_AZTEC_F.html

looks like it can carry up to a TON, (including the pilot and co-pilot), that's a respectable amount of coke... I don't know why the cops were so quick to dismiss that possibility.

Empty weight: 3,180 lb (1,442 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 5,200 lb (2,360 kg)

...the aspects of the Aztec that made it so popular were its spacious interior and ability to haul large loads...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-23

and that explains the confusion, with one news channel saying 6-seater, and one saying it's a 4-seater... cause it's a FIVE seater, lol
Could it have been a plane thief who can't fly?

We know it's not the "Barefoot Bandit"......he's in jail.
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