$435M worth of cocaine found on foreign aircraft - Colombian, Brazilian in custody

$435M worth of cocaine found on foreign aircraft – Colombian, Brazilian in custody

Jul 12, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Monday reported that the cocaine that was discovered in the Cessna aircraft loaded with cocaine illegally landed at the airstrip in Mahdia, Region Eight, is valued at $435, 380,640.

Brazilian National, Mateus Vicinius Alberto

Columbian National, Rodrigues Estiven

On Sunday, police detained the pilot and co-pilot of the airplane. Police identified the pilot as a Colombian national, Rodriguez Estiven, 43, while the other, 23-year-old Mateus Vinicius Alberto, is believed to be a law-enforcement officer of neighbouring Brazil; however police are yet to confirm if the claim is true.

The tail number (registration number) of the plane is N5470Z and according to investigators it landed around 14:20hrs. Inside the aircraft, investigators found 10 parcels of suspected cocaine and eight were labeled “king Cocoa 30”. A parcel of cannabis was also part of the plane’s cargo along with one satellite phone, two GPS devices, and one radio set.

The Cessna that landed illegally at Mahdia on Sunday

The foreign nationals were escorted to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Eve Leary where the parcels were weighed in their presence and which amounted to 290.2 kilogram of cocaine and cannabis which amounted to 54.6 kilogram.

The street value of the cocaine is $435, 380,640 and the street value for the cannabis is $49,171,680. Kaieteur News had reported that some background checks suggest that it could be possible that the aircraft might be carrying an incorrect tail number. However, there is a registered 1972 model Cessna plane N5470 that might be linked to Brazil.

In recent years, such planes have been using Guyana’s airspace to traffic cocaine. At least five airplanes have landed illegally in the hinterland locations from 2020 to present. Two planes, a Cessna with three foreign nationals onboard and a Beechcraft laden with kilos of cocaine and a body were found at Issano, Region Seven, in 2020. Another craft, a burnt out Cessna was found abandoned along a trail in Kwakwani in June 2021. A fourth plane, a Beechcraft with more drugs and two Brazilian nationals onboard was forced to land at Orealla, Region Six in May 2021, because of mechanical issues. Some of the foreign nationals have already been prosecuted and jailed while others are still on trial.