MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Drugs seized on plane from Venezuela

Authorities discovered 5,500 kilograms (12,100 pounds) of cocaine on board a plane that arrived at a Gulf coast airport from Caracas, the Mexican attorney general's office said Tuesday.

The anti-drug operation, in which personnel from the AG's office and the armed forces participated, was carried out on Monday at the Ciudad del Carmen international airport in Campeche and resulted in the arrests of three people, a Venezuelan and two Mexicans.

The DC-9 arriving from Maiquetia-Caracas airport was intercepted with the drug still on board, the Defense Ministry's chief of operations, Carlos Gaytan, said at a press conference, at which he was accompanied by Assistant Attorney General Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.

The drug was in the cargo hold of the plane belonging to the U.S. tourist charter company Fligh Airline, according to the AG's office, The seizure of the drug came about because authorities noted what appeared to be several irregularities, including the fact that the plane had no passengers even though it had been reported that it was a special tourist flight.

The only people on board the plane when it landed were the pilot, whose name was not determined and who managed to flee, and the copilot, Venezuelan Miguel Vice Vazquez Guerra, who was arrested.

Minutes after the plane landed, another Mexican Falcon aircraft arrived at the same airport carrying Mexicans Fernando Poot Pere and Marco Antonio Perez, who were arrested because, authorities said, they were going to help offload the drug from the DC-9 to their smaller plane.

The Mexicans intended to take the shipment to the Toluca airport, some 60 kilometers (36 miles) from Mexico City.

Officials here said that they had asked for the cooperation of U.S. authorities since the DC-9 belonged to a U.S. airline, as well as soliciting the help of Caracas to achieve the capture of those responsible for the illicit shipment.

Mexican authorities say they are confident they will capture the pilot of the DC-9 because the copilot provided them with information that would help them locate him.