One killed as drug plane makes forced landing in Honduras

Tegucigalpa, July 4 (IANS/EFE) One person was killed and another injured Tuesday when their small plane loaded with cocaine made a forced landing near the eastern Honduran town of Catacamas, authorities said.

The spokesman for the security ministry, Hector Ivan Mejia, told reporters that the incident occurred in the early hours.

Honduran police were alerted to the incursion in national air space of a small plane which they pursued with the help of agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, he said.

He added that the twin-engine plane, which was slightly damaged, was carrying up to 600 kg of cocaine.

Mejia said he didn't know the identity of the two crew members of the Colombian-registered aircraft, though they were thought to be Brazilians.

The drugs and injured crew member were taken to Tegucigalpa, according to the spokesman, who gave no details about how the forced landing came about.

In 2011 Honduran authorities confiscated more than 22 tonnes of cocaine in a number of operations, some of them in coordination with the US Coast Guard.

--IANS/EFE

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