Placencia Plane Up: Boat from Honduras, Vehicle in Belize?

It’s been fifteen days since a leased Maya Island Air plane was stolen from the Placencia Airport and crash landed seconds after taking off, killing a Venezuelan and an Argentinean pilot in the process. The Belize Police Department continues to work with its counterparts in those relevant countries, as well as the DEA, as the investigation continues into this incident.  It is believed that the foiled theft of the aircraft is the work of narco traffickers operating in the region. As we reported, eight persons arrived by boat; four armed men held up the security guard at the airstrip and two pilots flew off in the plane and died in the fiery crash; the boat and a pickup truck were seen leaving the area. Today, it was confirmed that no cargo was on the Cessna Caravan turboprop aircraft and that police, with assistance from international agencies, are still investigating the incident. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams gave an update.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We do believe that there were Belizeans involved in that operation. There is no way the foreigners could have come to Belize and know exactly where to go and what to do and so, Belizeans had to be involved. We have not been able to identify the person or persons who were in that vehicle; neither have we been able to identify the vehicle. We believe that the boat may have gone to Honduras as we also believe that it came from Honduras and went to that location. There was no cargo on the plane and our investigation into that matter continues. We are in constant dialogue with our counterparts in Argentina, Venezuela as well as the DEA attaché here in Belize to see what we can get on those individuals. There are certain things that we have gathered, yes, that I am not going to divulge to the media at this time as the investigation is still ongoing.”

Reporter

“Will this trigger any additional security at the local aerodromes?”

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“It is an issue that we are working together with Civil Aviation. The police department as you know has been working along with them since this incident. It is sort of an unprecedented move by any means. No one would ever have imagined something like that could possibly happen and so, we absolutely have to be on high alert at all of our aerodromes like you mention.”