A private jet carrying over 850 pounds of cocaine crashed onto a Mexican highway Sunday, forcing the traffickers to ditch the plane and take off into the woods in order to avoid arrest, The New York Post reported.
The plane reportedly came from Venezuela and had nearly $5 million worth of cocaine on board. It landed on a state highway in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexican News Daily reported.
“The aircraft, a vehicle and the possible drug were secured and placed at the disposal of the corresponding authorities,” a police spokesman told local media outlet Contacto Hoy, Newsweek reported.
Video of the wreckage was posted on Twitter by Alberto Capella, the security minister of the Mexican state Quintana Roo. The video shows the plane engulfed in smoke as it lies across the empty highway.
La matrícula de la aeronave aparentemente es XB-RCM y podría estar relacionada con actividades ilícitas. Autoridades federales atendiendo la investigación. pic.twitter.com/VcjWywriOe
— Alberto Capella (@kpya) July 5, 2020
Though the crew was able to evade capture, authorities said that they had recovered the drugs, which had been loaded into a truck in hopes that it would not being confiscated, The New York Post reported.
There were no reports of any injuries or fatalities, and it was unclear whether the jet had caught fire while landing or whether it had been intentionally set on fire by those on board, Newsweek reported. (RELATED: Largest Amphetamine Bust In The World Nets 15 Tons Of Pills)
The plane had been tracked by the Mexican Air Force since its departure at approximately 5 a.m. local time, and that they had even sent a military plane to intercept the jet before it made the forced landing, according to The New York Post.
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