Five passengers steal a small airline plane in the Peruvian Amazon

Five passengers were robbed on Tuesday from a private Peruvian airline’s Cessna 206 plane after being flown to their destination at a remote airfield in the Amazon, authorities and the company said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Transport said the robbery occurred in the morning at 10:11 local time (15:11 GMT), after the aircraft of the Saeta airline company landed with the five passengers at the remote airfield in the district of Jeberos, province of Alto Amazonas, Loreto region.

Michael Lucero, head of security for Saeta, told local radio RPP that the five passengers arrived at their destination and disembarked normally. After five minutes, they returned to the plane and, showing their revolvers, began firing into the air — at least 15 times, according to an airline official — and ejected the pilot from the plane. One of the assailants, who knew how to fly a plane, climbed into the cockpit and took off.

Lucero explained that the thieves used false Peruvian identities when checking in before the flight that left the city of San Lorenzo, in the Loreto region. She added that the robbery is very unusual.

The Cessna 206 plane carries five passengers plus a pilot, is 8.61 meters long and can carry 1,633 kilos. Lucero said the plane had enough fuel to continue flying for just over three hours.

The airline’s security chief acknowledged that in Jeberos, the district where the plane was stolen, security is weak and that in the area, as in many others in the Peruvian Amazon, there are known to be clandestine landing strips that They serve drug traffickers to get drugs out to other countries by air.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.