Venezuela downs third alleged Colombian drug plane in 10 days
Caracas, Dec 18 (EFE).- Venezuelan armed forces “neutralized” an aircraft carrying drugs from Colombia, the third such incident in 10 days, the army said Saturday
General Domingo Hernández Lárez, the operational commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, said it was the 55th drug plane downed this year as part of the operations against Colombian terrorists and drug traffickers.
“National sovereignty is not negotiated, it is defended. The FANB (Bolivarian National Armed Forces) neutralizes aircraft No. 55 of the year 2021, which entered our airspace without an identification code using illegal tracks such as the products they carry. Venezuela is free territory of drugs,” the military commander said.
However, Hernández Lárez did not detail how the plane was associated with the drug trafficking groups, the area where it flew, and the drugs it carried.
The armed forces earlier claimed to have brought down two alleged drug planes on Dec.6 and 15, without giving more details about the events, except attributing the aircraft to Colombian drug traffickers.
The army uses the “neutralize” ambiguously which does not make it possible to clarify whether the planes were shot down in mid-flight or intercepted on the ground and dismantled. EFE
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