Invaders Seized Officer's Gun, Took Time To Fuel Up
In the US, federal threats to impose oppressive security measures at small general aviation airports are generally viewed as a solution looking for a
problem. But in Mexico, authorities are battling an epidemic of small aircraft thefts as drug rings steal planes to get cocaine north to the US.
Mexican media report the army there has confiscated 245 small planes and helicopters from drug runners just since November of last year.
Now, Reuters reports about 20 armed men stole five small planes from a private airstrip in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa Tuesday. Emma
Quiroz of the government's anti-organized crime operations say the invaders overpowered a police officer, seized his gun, tied him up, topped off the
planes with fuel and took off.
The planes had been stored in a hangar since being grounded earlier this year by the army, which claimed they presented irregularities that violated
civil aviation and airport laws.
Quiroz's office could not be sure Tuesday's incident was drug-related, but said it was investigating whether any authorities had been complicit, and
was, "...taking the necessary actions to determine the whereabouts of these airplanes and the criminals who took part in the robbery."
Originally posted by capt. mike
the invaders overpowered a police officer, seized his gun, tied him up, topped off the planes with fuel and took off.
Unless/until the FAA comes up with a plan so that owners can legally, effectively disable aircraft this s**t will happen again & again &
again.Shark18 - 10-2-2008 at 01:12 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Unless/until the FAA comes up with a plan so that owners can legally, effectively disable aircraft this s**t will happen again & again &
again.
There is no system to disable an aircraft that could prevent a person who wants it to "reenable" it. Those guys have 24-hours a day to figure out how
to beat the system.
Found em
bajaguy - 10-3-2008 at 10:27 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:16 a.m. October 3, 2008
MEXICO CITY – Mexican soldiers have found five small planes that were stolen after they were seized in an anti-drug operation.
Security officials say the planes were found on a ranch in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa, a hotbed of drug trafficking.
The federal Attorney General's Office said earlier this week that 20 heavily armed men tied up a local policeman guarding the aircraft and flew the
five Cessnas out of an airfield in the town of Navolato.
The planes allegedly were used to fly seeds and fertilizer to a marijuana-growing region.
The Attorney General's Office joined the Defense Department in Friday's announcement of the planes' discovery
