Friday, December 01, 2017

Belize: Plane Found Burnt In Field - Likely Carried Drug Cargo



November 26, 2017 -   Orange Walk police found a burnt plane in the Orange Walk District. It is believed to have carried a drug cargo - and was most likely destroyed by the traffickers flying it - which is standard procedure. The plane is a large one - believed to be a twin turboprop King Air 200 - and it can carry a heavy cargo, as much as a tonne. It was found crashed and burned in a corn field not far from Hill Bank in the south-central Orange Walk District.

Police told us more:..

ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City
"Yesterday, Orange Walk police received information of a plane somewhere in the Hill Bank area. As a result police and BDF personnel proceeded to the Hill Bank area where they observed in a cornfield an aircraft completely destroyed by fire."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Was there any signs of illicit activity or any reports that illicit activity had been seen in or around the plane?"

ASP Alejandro Cowo
"So far we don't have information that anything illegal was seen in the area. The only information that the police received about this plane in that area, hence the reason they proceed there and they found the plane completely destroyed by fire."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Was it a landing strip or was it that they just landed on corn, or was it just a little landing area carved out?"

ASP Alejandro Cowo
"It just landed on the plain cornfield."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Are you all drawing any conclusions if it was drug-related?"

ASP Alejandro Cowo
"Well, we are looking at that angle at this moment. The police and the BDF are working together to establish exactly what happened out there."

No lives appear to have been lost.

Civil Aviation could not confirm the type of plane because they have not inspected it yet. It was completely burnt and stripped of clues. Our sources tell us these areas in the southern Orange Walk District and Northwestern Belize District are commonly used as landing areas for drug cargo.

Original article can be found here ➤ http://www.7newsbelize.com

Belize authorities have discovered an aircraft which was landed in the Orange Walk District. Someone set it on fire, most likely to destroy any sort of evidence. This is an illicit landing, and so, it is suspected that this plane was carrying drug cargo.

Assistant Superintendent Alejandro Cowo, the officer commanding Eastern Division’s Criminal Investigation Branch, confirmed reports of the discovery to the press in the bi-weekly police press conference on Monday, November 27.

ASP Cowo said that on Sunday, November 26, Orange Walk police received information that there was a downed plane in the Hill Bank Area of the District. They quickly deployed to the location, and in a corn field, they came upon the aircraft which was completely destroyed by fire.

Belizean law enforcement don’t yet know the make and model of the aircraft because all identifying features were removed. The experts from the Civil Aviation Department are expected to go out to the location and inspect it, to hopefully make that determination. Those with knowledge of aircrafts, who’ve seen it, believe that this plane is a twin turbo-prop King Air 200. Such an aircraft is reported to be able to carry cargo that is up to a tonne.


Police have not specified if they have reason to suspect whether this corn field is an illegal airstrip in disguise, or if it is only just a corn field. From their inspection, however, it appears that the persons who were using this aircraft simply used the corn field as a landing zone.

If that aircraft is determined to be the twin turbo prop King Air 200, then that means that the users destroyed an expensive asset. Online estimates say that planes of that type cost anywhere from over US $300,000, to about US 1.5 million dollars. It is a standard practice by narco-traffickers to destroy airplanes after a drug cargo is moved from one location to the next. So, if the aircraft was intentionally destroyed, then it is a reasonable speculation that whatever cargo it was carrying is far more valuable.

The cops found nothing else on scene, and no other signs of the users of this plane.

Original article can be found here ➤ http://www.guardian.bz

2 comments:

  1. Have flown them both.....certainly a Cheyenne....
    Have never seen A B200 with Tip Tanks......

    ReplyDelete