Costa Rican cops detain aircraft carrying half a ton of cocaine

National Police officers on Monday detained a Guatemalan plane loaded with about half a ton of cocaine. 

The incident occurred at 4:30 a.m. on a private airstrip in Valle de la Estrella, south of of Limón, where officers forced the aircraft to land.

The airstrip belongs to a banana farming company and is used mostly for fumigating aircrafts.

Police arrested the plane’s pilots, two Guatemalan nationals who are father and son and have the last name Cruz, according to Erick Calderón, local chief of the National Police in Limón.

In addition, public security forces are conducting a search operation in nearby areas to locate more suspects.

The King Air aircraft with registration number TG-HOS has seating for eight people. It belongs to a Guatemalan businessman with the last name of Hernández. According to police reports, it was rented for a flight to Cartagena, Colombia.

Public Security Minister Mario Zamora and Vice Minister Celso Gamboa gave details of the arrest during a press conference at ministry headquarters in San José on Monday morning.

With this new seizure, the total amount of cocaine seized in 2013 thus far has reached 43 tons, according to ministry officials.