Guatemalan counternarcotics forces seized 1.5 tons of cocaine found in a crashed light airplane in the northern department of Petén, on the border with Mexico and Belize, the Office of the Attorney General (MP, in Spanish) reported on November 12.
Authorities found the partially burned aircraft with several drug packages on November 11 in the Laguna del Tigre forest reserve, in San Andrés municipality, the MP said in a statement.
After several hours of inspection, agents found 1,539 kilograms of cocaine, the MP said, though it did not report any victims or arrests following the discovery in the reserve, a protected area due to its environmental wealth, located about 600 kilometers north of the capital.
“According to the District Attorney’s Office for Drug Crimes, the [shipment’s] approximate value is more than $20 million,” the MP added.
Authorities found the drug days after security forces located another light aircraft that crashed with 1,028 kg of cocaine in the coastal village of El Chico on the Pacific, near the Mexican border.
In that incident, one person died and police arrested two people.
In early November, three corpses were found floating in Laguna del Tigre, near the location where a light aircraft crashed with six cocaine packages.
So far this year, Guatemala has located some 30 aircraft used in narcotrafficking operations, mainly in uninhabited areas in the country’s north and south.
According to the United States, 90 percent of the cocaine that reaches the country goes through Mexico and Central America in light aircraft, boats, and even submarines.
