Belize Says Only 25 Drug Plane Landings are Recorded in 2020-2021

The Government of Belize has rejected claims that “70 drug planes landed” in the country between 2020 and 2021, stating that the reported numbers are unsupported by official data.

The denial follows a September 30th report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which cites leaked emails from the Mexican defense ministry.

According to the report, “The emails include at least 70 alerts sent from American to Mexican authorities about drug flights in 2020 and 2021 that landed in Belize.”

The OCCRP stated the emails indicated regular drug flights from Venezuela to Belize.

Meanwhile, in a statement released today, the Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries called the allegations “false” and insisted the actual number of illegal landings was significantly lower.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries said the report misrepresents the facts and stressed that official law enforcement data confirms only 25 illegal landings during that period.

The Home Affairs Ministry broke down the number of plane landings from the years 2018 through 2021, where it stated that “In 2020, there were 10 landings. In 2021, there were 15 landings. This confirms that only 25 illegal landings occurred during 2020–2021.”

While there were 70 alerts, only 25 were officially recorded plane landings. 

The Belize government credited the decline in drug flights to its multi-agency strategy. It pointed to enhanced air surveillance, interdiction efforts, and cooperation with international partners as key factors behind the drop in activity.

Meanwhile, according to OCCRP, “The alerts naming Belize as a major destination for drug flights have not previously been made public,” adding that “The Belize ministries of defense and foreign affairs did not respond to requests for comment about drug flights to the country.”

The report further stated that a former naval officer who was stationed in Guatemala between 2017 and 2022, Jesús Romero, claimed that “Belize was simply a transit point when the pressure became too intense for the air bridge operations in Guatemala.”