Venezuelan fighters shoot down plane with American number

SANAA, July 9 (YPA) – The Venezuelan army announced on Wednesday that its fighters shot down a plane with an American registration number after it penetrated the airspace of Venezuela.

The leadership of the Venezuelan Armed Forces said in a statement that the Air Defense Command monitored the plane in the country’s airspace, and it was neutralized according to the law of the Venezuelan fighters, and the leadership indicated that the plane was smuggling drugs through the country’s airspace.

The Venezuelan strategic leadership released photos of the burning plane moments after it was shot down, with registration number N339AV on it.

According to the information of the traffic control sites, this number belongs to a private “Hawker 800” plane and carried out before the accident a flight in Mexico’s airspace from Toluca State to the island of Cozumel.

Usually no official information is provided about the accident scene, goods, and crew, but such incidents are usually linked to drug trafficking, and the average cost of this plane on the secondary market is $ 2 million, with a load capacity of 900 kg.

A month earlier, a similar incident in the west of the country was reported by a Ministry of Defense for a shot down plane that was being used by drug dealers.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was making adjustments to the senior leadership level of the Venezuelan Army, Navy and Air Force yesterday, stated in 2013 that a law had been approved that allowed the downing of any drug mafia plane flying illegally over the country’s territory.