The newspaper Últimas Noticias reported that among those involved was the lieutenant colonel of the Bolivarian Military Aviation César José Pérez Salas, president of Emtrasur. However, Ramón Velásquez, Minister of Transport, said on his social networks that the arrest of the president of Emtrasur was a lie. In a second publication, Últimas Noticias points out that Pérez Salas was summoned to testify about the procedure. This detail was not mentioned by the minister.
Text: Valentina Gil
After security officials seized three tons of suspected cocaine at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, a rumor went viral that César Pérez Salas, president of the Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, SA (Emtrasur), a subsidiary of the state airline Conviasa, was arrested.
The newspaper Últimas Noticias reported that the shipment was impregnated with coffee and would be sent to Afghanistan. The aforementioned merchandise came with packaging from the company Comercializadora “Café El Faraón CA”, domiciled in the El Helechal sector, Junín municipality (Rubi) Táchira state, according to a report from Detachment 451 of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB).
In addition, the media mentioned that 13 people were arrested and among those involved was Lieutenant Colonel of the Bolivarian Military Aviation César José Pérez Salas, according to the report of the Special Anti-Drug Unit No. 45 to which it had “partial” access. Eligio Rojas, a journalist from Últimas Noticias, also published the news on his social networks.
However, Ramón Velásquez, Minister of Transport, said on his social networks that the arrest of the president of Emtrasur was a lie. In a second publication, Últimas Noticias points out that Pérez Salas was summoned to testify about the procedure. This detail was not mentioned by the minister.
The suspects were arrested in the attack on the city of Santoyo, in the capital of the state of Baja California, in the state of Baja California Sur.
The list is completed by Concepcion Niño Torres, Roger Alfredo Vergara Perez, Eliaxis Joshua Nava Rodriguez, Alexander Nehomar Santalis, Yuisay Yaneiza Ramirez Pinto, Barbara Gislaine Duran Aldama, Mario Ricardo Prado Medina and Daniel Alfonso Arevalo Chirinos; the last three were in Carabobo.
These people were handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office where a case was opened against them for illicit drug trafficking.
*Read also: Emtrasur president summoned for alleged cocaine seized in Maiquetía
The Emtrasur plane stopped in Argentina
In July 2022, the Boeing 747-300M aircraft belonging to Emtrasur was detained at Ezeiza International Airport in Argentina. The Argentine courts ordered the aircraft to be immobilized and ordered that the 19 crew members on the plane could not leave the country (14 Venezuelans and five Iranians). According to BBC Mundo, the authorities were struck by the fact that the crew was much larger than required for flights of this nature.
Before joining Emtrasur, the Boeing had operated with Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned by the United States for its links to the Quds Force, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In addition, the pilot of the plane, Gholamreza Ghasemi, was accused by the United States of having been a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The governments of Tehran and Caracas denied US accusations that the plane was actually used for Iranian intelligence operations in Latin America. In February 2024, the Argentine government transferred custody of the aircraft to the US, in compliance with an order from the District of Columbia Court.
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