Police were on high alert last night combing the expanse network of feeder roads in the San Lazaro area of the Orange Walk District last night in search of what is believed to be a drug plane.
Sometime around 11 the police were mobilized to intercept a plane that touched down on a feeder road in the cane fields west of the Tower Hill factory but it was not until very early this morning that anti-drug unit personnel found the plane and has become the norm no one or any contents were found in it.
Alfonso Noble traveled north and finds out more.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
For the fourth time in as many months, Belize Police and BDF personnel have been called out to the northern part of the country to guard a plane that is believed to have been used to bring drugs into the country. This time it was the San Lazaro area in the Orange Walk District.
Little can be found to determine the origin of the plane or the owner. The registration has been torn off and all that is left behind is the plane, which appears to have been raided for any remainder of its contents.
Reports are that some time around 11 last night the plane was in the area flying overhead being followed by what's believed to be Mexican authorities. This one touched down sometime shortly thereafter and it is believed that 11 tones of drugs the carrying capacity of the plane was unloaded and trucked off. BDF and civilian personnel were this afternoon at the site trying to ascertain the flight worthiness of the plane for it to be flown out of the area.
The plane is a red and white beech craft similar but a bit bigger than the one found in the Libertad area earlier this month. By our records this is the 4th plane that has been found abandoned in the Northern districts. One was also found in the Cayo area last year. The biggest was an Antonov cargo plane that landed in the Blue Creek area last year.