• GUN BATTLE: One Mexican soldier died after a gunfight erupted, while military troops conducted the seizure of an aircraft carrying more than 780 kilograms of cocaine that illegally landed northeast of Chetumal, the capital city of the state of Quintana Roo, near the international border with Belize
• SOUTH AMERICA: According to Mexico’s Ministry of Defense, the seized aircraft had its origin somewhere in South America and, troops in the area were able to arrest two suspects. For almost a decade now, aircraft operations in southern Mexico have been tightly controlled against irregular flights.
• DECEMBER: Back in December 2019, Mexican authorities seized 1.4 tons of cocaine inside a Hawker jet that landed without authorization in Chetumal international airport, after being unable to unload the drug load in Belize, its two-crew members escaped by jumping the airport’s fence.
• ASSESSMENT: In March 2009, the US Department of State highlighted its concern regarding the increasing use of the Belize border region with Mexico for the landing of irregular aircraft trafficking cocaine. Only in 2018, Belize seized one ton of cocaine, per US estimates.
