BELMOPAN, Belize, Mar 4, CMC – Police say they believe that a jet aircraft burnt near the Belize Guatemalan border last weekend had been used to transport illegal drugs into the country.
Police Commissioner, Chester Williams, said that the plane had landed in southern Belize and that the authorities here had been alerted to the aircraft leaving South America and heading towards Belize at around 11.pm (local time) on Sunday.
He said that the authorities kept a close watch on the plane’s movements and “as we normally would do in these instances, we would call the Joint Intelligence and Operations Center (JIOC) ensuring that we deploy personnel in different areas that we suspect the plane may likely go on land”
He said the aircraft was tracked until it entered Belizean airspace at least three hours after leaving South America and that “it disappeared about two miles away from the Belize Guatemalan border in the south.
“Our counterparts have indicated to us that the plane landed in Belizean territory near the border with Guatemala in some extremely rugged terrain. And so, the Belize Defence Force (BDF) did a flyover…and we also sent in a team comprising of police and BDF to the location”
Williams said that while the teams were able to locate the plane in Belizean territory “just as was indicated to us near the Guatemalan border…it is a jet, and it has been destroyed by fire”.
Williams said no cargo was found on the plane and that it had landed at a makeshift airstrip.
“Yes an airstrip is there that the plane landed on. From all indications from the team on the ground is that the plane landed well, was not damaged during landing. But after landing it was pilled on the side and burnt.”
Belizean authorities have over the past years stepped up efforts to counter illegal flights carrying drugs into the country.
CMC/ag/ir/2025