Suspected Drug Plane Found Near Frank’s Eddy Village

This morning, a team of law enforcement and military personnel discovered an abandoned single-engine aircraft near Frank’s Eddy Village, parked on the side of a dirt road. It’s believed the plane was used to smuggle narcotics into the country from South America. The interior had been completely gutted, and no drugs were found inside. The Belize Police Department was aware of the illegal landing but couldn’t pinpoint the location until daybreak.  Earlier this week, on Open Your Eyes, Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa mentioned that the frequency of drug plane landings has significantly decreased since the start of 2024. He provided an overview of the law enforcement efforts to combat drug trafficking.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs (File: November 11^th, 2024)

“As you know, our government for the last two years has approved a budget of around eight hundred thousand [dollars] basically, that is specifically targeting the narco-trafficking agents in Mexico, specifically the Caborca Cartel which operates in the Quintana Roo area.  As you know, they have a lot of cross-border activity taking place along the villages of Douglas, San Victor, I believe San Roman as well.  And so, our teams, our specialized units are out there in that area, basically to restrict that kind of cross-border trade.  We’re talking human smuggling, human trafficking, the importation of cannabis, the exportation of cocaine, whenever that does come into the country.  Thankfully, we haven’t seen, I think there’s only one reported plane landing for the entire year of 2024, but it is to basically address that to ensure that we do not become a cartel country, so to speak.  I think that we have had excellent success, I believe just last month we had two cocaine busts in the northern part of the country, in Chunox and Sarteneja.  And so, it’s been very effective in terms of limiting that type of cross-border transactions.”