Officials of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) disabled an aircraft, allegedly linked to illicit activities, that was hidden in a town on the border with Colombia, operational strategic commander Domingo Hernández Lárez reported this Wednesday.
“During an aerial reconnaissance mission, it was possible to detect an aircraft hidden under a forested area in the Pedro Camejo municipality of Apure state,” said the military chief in Xwhere he specified that the “neutralization” took place on Monday of this week.
The aircraft, he explained, was not complying with legal regulations by having violated the aeronautical regulations for entry and movement in Venezuelan territory, for which the FANB proceeded “to immobilize and disable it immediately.”
«It is assumed that it was used for illicit drug and weapons trafficking activities», he said.
Hernández Lárez explained that, with this case, the total number of aircraft seized “legally by the FANB in the exercise of national sovereignty from 2012 to date” rises to 379.
The last known intervention took place in the same municipality in March, when the military destroyed a plane declared hostile for not having a flight plan or authorization from air traffic institutions to operate in the area.
According to FANB data, in the first eight months of 2023 alone, Venezuela disabled 38 invading planes linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining, a scourge that the Government seeks to eradicate in the Amazon.
The entry The FANB disabled a hidden aircraft in Apure was first published in EL NACIONAL.