AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life News Drug Plane buried after landing

Drug Cargo Unaccounted For

A drug plane that landed this morning south of Shipyard, Orange Walk has been unearthed by police. It appears to have been roughly dismantled and buried underground. An excavator was found nearby which was likely used to break up the plane. The pictures show what was unearthed by police.

Police are still searching for the drug cargo.



Channel 7

Drug Plane Lands, Unloads, Then Destroyed and Buried

Another drug plane landed in Belize this weekend, before dawn on Sunday morning - and, again, the narcos made off with the cargo before the cops could reach.

But what's unusual this time is that they tried to bury the evidence. Not the drugs, of course, that was long gone, but the twin engine jet that brought it - they actually buried it in the ground - with the use of some very heavy equipment.

The Commissioner discussed it today:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We mobilized and deployed our personnel to different possible landing spots across the country. This time around the plane entered our air space just around four a.m. on Sunday morning. It flew over and went north and then it went south and disappeared from the radar. A few minutes later around four-thirty we were notified by the Mexican air asset that the plane was sighted on the ground behind Crooked Tree near the Shipyard area which is a very remote area. May I say that we had a possible landing spot that was already lighted for the plane to land and we were in that area waiting but somehow the plane shifted and went and landed in this extremely remote area which is not even an air strip - it actually landed in a farm. Police and B.D.F. personnel responded to the area - it took us some time to get there and upon arrival there was no sight of the plane but we found one excavator, one bulldozer, one tractor. We also observed a huge portion of the soil that appeared to have been freshly disturbed and several debris of what we believe was from a plane. So, we got someone who could operate the equipment and we dug the soil that was disturbed and came across the plane that was destroyed and buried. We took out the engine from the plane and we were able to have the scenes of crime personnel swab the interior of the plane - the results for which is still pending. Searches were conducted within the immediate and outer area of the landing site with a view to see if we would have located the content of the plane, which we believe was drugs, but there was no joy."

"At this time we are trying to ascertain who the owner of the land is and who are the owner of the 3 heavy duty equipment that were found on site. It is clear that those equipment were use to bury the plane as well as to clear some area for the plane to land. So the police investigation in respect to that latest plane landing continues."

Reporter
"How the narcos had enough time to destroy and bury an entire jet while also unloading likely more than a ton of drugs before police could respond?"

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I don't know how do you conclude that there was almost a ton of drugs. I don't know if we should detain and question you. But as I have said before when these narco planes come it is not one or two persons who unload - they normally have a team and it would take them no more than twenty minutes to offload those planes and to move out with its cargo. Remember I said that the area where the plane landed is very remote and it took the police some time to get there - over an hour and a half to be precise. A plane is not made of heavy steel - it is mostly light aluminum or fiberglass and so it is easy to be crushed. They could crush that easily. I would want to think that the hole was there already dug and just put in the hole and cover it up and they are gone - that could be done in less than two hours."

Reporter
"Any idea where the cargo may be at this time?"

Chester Williams
"At this time you would know that the area where the plane landed there is some back road that leads to Shipyard and La Union or whatever the place name - from there it can go easily into the Mexican side and so we believe that the drug might have been moved out of the country by now."

Police are tying to find out who is the owner of the land, and, as you heard, also the heavy equipment.

Channel 7