Cocaine-laden aircraft at Mahdia: Brazilian, Colombian fined, jailed for 12 years

Matheus Vinicius Tontes Alberto, 23, a Brazilian national, and Rodrigues Canon Dandes Estiven, 43, a Colombian national, who were on Sunday arrested after landing a drug-laden light single-engine aircraft at the Mahdia Airstrip, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) were both jailed for 12 years each on Thursday.

On Thursday, the men admitted to trafficking 290.2 kilograms of cocaine, and were fined $435,380,640 and sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment respectively.
Also on Thursday, the men admitted to trafficking 54.6 kg cannabis and were fined $49,171,680 and sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment.
They also pleaded guilty to operating a civil aircraft without an airworthiness certificate and were each fined $2,000,000 and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.
Additionally, they were charged and pleaded guilty to interference with an aircraft and were each fined $2,000,000 and jailed for one year.
They also admitted to operating an aircraft without insurance and were fined $3,000,000 and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment respectively.

The men also admitted to having a false or misleading aircraft marking and were both fined $2,000,000 and jailed for one year. The sentences will run concurrently.
The aircraft landed about 15:00h without the necessary permission and clearance from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). A source told Guyana Times that the aircraft is a Cessna 172 with a fake registration number (N5470Z).
The aircraft and its contents were then taken to the Eugene F Correia Airport and then to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, where the men were questioned.
Back in November 2021, a foreign pilot and his co-pilot were arrested in Mahdia after they landed at an airstrip in the area.
Reports are that the men – a Colombian and a Venezuelan – landed in a twin-engine Piper Seneca plane. Following their detention at the Mahdia Police Station, several personal items, along with a GPS, were seized by Police.
In June of that year, another aircraft was seen circling the Bissaruni trail (12 miles east of Kwakwani), Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and subsequently landed, but when it was found, it had been completely burnt.