SANTA MARTHA, Orange Walk District, Wed. Sept. 23, 2020– An investigation into the landing of a suspected drug plane in the Santa Martha area at about 2:00 Monday morning, September 21, Independence Day, led to the initial detention of five persons.
During a police press brief held today, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that two men will be charged. One of them is Noel Codd, the owner of the farm on which the plane landed, and the other man is a Mennonite, Isaac Petka, who owns the bulldozer that pushed the plane into the bushes to conceal it from sight. Commissioner Williams also said that there is evidence that both men were present when the plane landed.
The Police Commissioner said that a third man who was initially detained, owns the lowboy truck that took the bulldozer to the area where the plane landed.
Police also found a tractor, a motorcycle, lighting equipment and a power saw on the scene. The men were detained when they tried to escape when police arrived, but police quickly nabbed them.
Police had initially detained five persons after the landing of the plane — including Codd, who owns the farm where the drug plane was found. Codd, as the owner of the property, has keys for the gate surrounding the farm, according to Commissioner Williams.
Today, Codd was arraigned on a charge of possession of prohibited ammunition. He pleaded not guilty and was offered bail of $5,000 and was ordered to return to court on October 27.
He was re-detained, however, pending investigation into the landing of the drug plane.
The owner of the bulldozer, Petka, remains in custody and has not yet been charged, while the three other men have been released without charges.
Commissioner Williams said that the plane was checked, but nothing was found, although he strongly believes that the plane’s crew and its cargo are still in the northern part of the country.
Williams said that, with the assistance of Mexican law enforcement, they had been tracking the plane, a G2 Gulf Stream jet that was heading to this area from South America.
However, they lost track of the plane when it went below the radar, but Mexican law enforcement flew over the area and saw the crash-landed plane and informed the Belize law enforcement of its exact location, and police went to the area and found the plane.
The Riviera Maya News, an official daily online newspaper of Cancun, Playa del Carmen, reported that on Monday morning, Mexican law enforcement were successful in preventing a drug plane from landing in Mexican territory, and the plane was forced to land in the territory of Belize at about 2:00 Monday morning.