Illegal aircraft at Mahdia: “We are lost, we came from Venezuela” – foreigners tell Police
The two foreigners who were arrested after an illegal aircraft landed at the Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) airstrip have claimed that they were “lost”.
Police in a statement on Friday said the two foreigners told investigators that they became lost in their quest to find gold.
They have been identified as Juan David Caicedo Villa, a 32-year-old pilot of Villavicencio, Colombia, and Gustavo Adolfo Riascos Gomez, a 48-year-old pilot/businessman of Tachira San Cristobal, Venezuela.
Based on reports, ranks of Mahdia Police Station observed the aircraft circling the Mahdia Airstrip in an attempt to land at about 18:00h on Thursday.
As a result, a party of policemen immediately went to the said airstrip and on arrival, a six-seater Piper Aire blue, red and white aircraft was seen on the ground, in front of Trans Guyana’s hangar, and the two foreigners were standing in front of the said aircraft talking to the security and ramp attendant.
When confronted by the Police, one of the men said, “We are lost, we came from Venezuela and going to look for gold”.
The aircraft contained three 15 gallon drums – two of which contained fuel – one hammock with net, one bag containing clothing and personal effects, and a black bag with identification cards, documents, one Garmin GPS, one Iridium Phone, one Icom radio set, one spot trace device, two phone chargers, one earpiece, one lighter, one torchlight, one Motorola phone, one Samsung phone, one knife, two wrist watches, one wallet, two grams of suspected cannabis and bamboo wrap.
The items have been lodged and the aircraft is currently under guard while both men were arrested and placed into custody pending investigations. (G9)