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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
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COSTA RICA NEWS
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Monday 11 October 2010 |
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Drug
Plane
Crashes
In Costa
Rica
Authorities
today
are
investigating
how
could a
light
plane
taking
off from
the
Pavas
airport,
headed
for
Guatemala,
could be
carrying
170
kilograms
of drugs
and no
one
noticed,
until
the
plane
crashed
into a
river
off the
runway.
Investigators
check
the
crashed
plane in
Costa
Rica on
Sunday.
The
light
aircraft,
carrying
some 170
kilograms
of
cocaine.
The
light
plane
crashed
after
taking
off from
the
small
international
airport
on the
west
side of
San
José.
Airport
security
cameras
show
that the
plane
needed
the
entire
runway
to take
off and
residents
say the
saw the
plan
flying
unusually
low and
off
course
from
what
they are
accustomed
to.
When the
Cruz
Roja
(Red
Cross),
bomberos
(fire
fighters)
and
police
arrive
at the
scene of
the
crash,
noticed
several
packets
of what
appeared
to
contain
drugs
while
attending
to the
pilot
and
passenger
of the
plane.
The
director
of
Vigilancia
Aera of
the
Fuerza
Pública, Oldemar
Madrigal,
confirmed
that the
plane's
pilot
and
passenger
were
taken to
hospital
and
police
guarded
and
collected
the 1
kilogram
packets
containing
cocaine.
The
vice-ministro
de
Seguridad,
Walter
Navarro,
was
personally
on hand
at the
crash
site to
direct
police
operations
and
promised
a full
investigation
into the
matter.
Records
indicate
that the
light
plane
had been
in Costa
Rica for
about
two
weeks
and was
being
used by
a group
of
businessmen
who were
scouting
Costa
Rica
with the
purpose
of
setting
an "air
tax"
company.
It
appears
the
drugs
were
stored
in a
warehouse
hangar
at the
small
airport
and
loaded
onto the
plane,
hidden
in the
aircraft's
fuilage
and only
discovered
because
of the
crash.
The
investigation
will
centre
on why
this and
possibly
other
planes
come and
go
without
inspections.
Madrigal
explained
that the
airport
is
mainly
used for
short
flights
within
Costa
Rica and
inspections
are
different
that for
international
flights
and that
the
current
plane is
not on
their
radar
due its
low load
capacity.
According
to
Madrigal,
the
packets
of drugs
were meant to
be taken
to
the Aurora
region
in
Guatemala.
Madrigal
added
that the
plane
had a
four-hour
flight
schedule
but it
had
fueled
for six
hours
flying.
The
crash
came
after a
week of
major
drug
busts in
other
Central
American
countries,
among
them the
seizure
in
Honduras
of
460
kilograms
of
cocaine
in the
country's
Caribbean
region
last
week.
Aerial
view of
the
Pavas
airport.
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Costa Rica's Daily English News
Source
Apdo. 2133-1000, San José, Costa
Rica
Tel: (506) 2231 3205 / (506) 8399
9642
Fax: (506) 2232 6337
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