Charred Remains of Suspected Drug Plane Found in Southern Belize, One Week Later

A team of law enforcement officers, as well as personnel from the National Forensics Science Services, is on the ground in southern Belize tonight.  After a week of searching, including aerial surveys of a far-flung location in Toledo District, the party, led by members of the Belize Police Department, discovered the burnt vestiges of an aircraft on Sunday morning.  It is believed that the wreckage is that of the airplane that was being tracked as it flew into Belizean airspace on the night of April tenth. The flight originated in South America and was being monitored as it flew north towards Belize. When we spoke with Commissioner of Police Chester Williams last Tuesday, he told reporters that the suspected drug plane was lost somewhere between Belize and Guatemala in the vicinity of the southern border. The incident comes after a considerable lull in the reporting of illegal airplane landings in the country. This morning, ComPol Williams provided an update and informed that not far from the charred remains of the aircraft is what appears to be a shallow grave containing human remains.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We done several searches in the area, including the BDF doing some flyovers and finally, I think it was on Friday or Thursday of last week, Friday, I think, the BDF were able to spot the burnt remains of the plane in an area of the Toledo District.  Again, the area was extremely remote.  It took the police and BDF days to get there and they finally got there yesterday and they found the remains of the plane and police also found a shallow grave that they believe contains human remains.  We’re still yet to confirm.  The scenes of crime personnel will be going out to the area today along with investigators.  But again, the rugged nature of the terrain is one that will not facilitate the police officers getting there quickly, and so to give you an update might take until tomorrow on that matter.”

Isani Cayetano

“So in the round, what is the state of affairs presently where suspected drug plane landings are concerned?  I know that it seemed to have reduced considerably, but where are we with that?”

Chester Williams

“Well it is something that we are focusing on heavily.  The government, again, has made some investments in terms of making sure that we get equipment to address these illicit aircraft landings and we are using those.  The collaboration between the police, the BDF and the coast guard, as well as the U.S. Embassy through the DEA attaché, has been extremely strong and we’re trying to see what can be done to enhance our efforts more to prevent these planes from coming or when they do come, that we‘ll be able to intercept them.  So again, we‘re seeing where these persons who are engaged in these activities are being very crafty in landing these planes in areas that we know are extremely remote and would take some time for the security forces to get there.”