More than 2,600 kilos of cocaine seized in Guinea-Bissau from Venezuela
Guinea-Bissau’s judicial police (PJ) announced the seizure, carried out on Saturday, of 2,633 kg of cocaine on an aircraft coming from Venezuela at the Osvaldo Vieira airport in Bissau, in a statement released on Sunday.
A twin-engine Gulfstream IV model, with registration XA-SBT, was carrying 78 packages of cocaine, The source said the plane was coming from Venezuela and not from Mexico as the police force had indicated on Saturday.
All five people on board the plane, including the pilot, have been arrested, authorities said. They are two Mexicans, a Colombian, a Brazilian and an Ecuadorian. They will be presented to the prosecutor on Monday, the note adds.
Bissau, a plane carrying 5 tonnes of cocaine landed on September 7. 2024 at Osvaldo Vieira airport. Des tractations au sommet de l’État pour le faire libérer. Use-@ pic.twitter.com/AoypJYV2tC
— BABA Gallé MBALLO (@MballoBaba) September 7, 2024
The seizure took place on Saturday at 13:46 (local time and GMT) and the operation was carried out in close cooperation with the US State Department, the Navy, the National Guard and intelligence agents.
This is the “largest seizure since the beginning of the year,” said Quitole Correia, a member of the anti-drug unit at Osvaldo Vieira airport, on Saturday.
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, is considered by security experts to be a transit point in West Africa for cocaine from South America to Europe.
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