QCOSTARICA – The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (Dirección General de Aviación Civil) claims not to know the name of owner of the Costa Rica registered airplane found abandoned in a canal in Chinandega, in Nicaragua’s northwest, with 89 kilograms of cocaine.
Enio Cubillo, director of Civil Aviation said tha the TI-ATR call letters are Costa Rican, but there was a transfer of title eight days ago, and for the moment, the name of the new owner is unknown; the former owner is a corporation.
According to the flight plan, the airplane departed from the Tobias Bolaños airport in Pavas (San Jose), headed to the area of Punta Islita on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, piloted by Arias Vargas and Campos Barrantes, each with two and half years experience, respectively.
For its part, Costa Rican authorities say they have no active search of the Pavas airport, for the moment the case in the hands of Nicaraguan authorities.
In Nicaragua, authorities say they have seized the airplane that was abandoned in Los Lirios, Puerto Morazán, Chinandega and are continuing the search for at least four people who fled the scene.
According to Today Nicaragua, the alert in Nicaragua was received around 8:30am. The deputy police chief told Channel 4 news that several specialized police units were on the scene and that the pilots are among the fugitives seen fleeing the area in a truck.
