A private jet with Mexican registration, loaded with a significant amount of cocaine, was seized by Guinea-Bissau’s Judicial Police at Osvaldo Vieira International Airport on Saturday.
The plane, registered as XA-SBT, originated from Mexico and allegedly transported the drugs from Venezuela to West Africa, making multiple stops in various countries before arriving in Guinea-Bissau without proper authorization.
Onboard were five crew members from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador. While the exact quantity of drugs has yet to be confirmed, it is expected to be one of the largest drug busts in Guinea-Bissau’s history. The cocaine was discovered in both the cargo and passenger sections of the aircraft.
In 2019, the Judicial Police seized 1,869 kilograms of cocaine in northern Guinea-Bissau, marking the country’s largest recorded drug bust.
Correia Quitole, Director of the Judicial Police Centre, informed journalists that the operation was conducted in collaboration with international anti-drug trafficking agencies. Authorities had been monitoring the plane and noticed suspicious attempts to divert it to another country in the region.
Quitole also confirmed that Guinea-Bissau was the intended destination of the aircraft, which had not received authorization to land, raising suspicions of drug trafficking.
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