The federal justice carried out this Thursday afternoon an inspection of the aircraft held in Ezeiza, ordered a complete technical review and removed the two black boxes from the aircraftsources with access to the file confirmed to Télam; At the same time, they explained that the investigators await information from foreign agencies to determine if there are elements that link the crew members with terrorism or international intelligence.
The inspection was going to be carried out last Wednesday but was postponed due to the presence of the media at the international airport, according to the same sources.
Although the judicial file remains under summary secrecy, Télam was able to learn from reliable sources that Judge Villena and prosecutor Cecilia Incardona requested information from foreign agencies to know for sure what type of sanction weighs on the Boeing 747 aircraft of the freight forwarding company Emtrasurwith Venezuelan registration YV3531, and if they exist crew investigations.
The information would have been requested from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury of the United States (due to the alleged commercial sanctions that would weigh on the aircraft) and the Federal Agency of Investigations and Intelligence of that country (FBI). , as he was able to reconstruct this medium.
At the local level, the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) answered this Thursday morning early in the morning a letter sent by the judge in which he requested information on the actions carried out by that body in this case, official sources reported.
In addition, in the Federal Court of Lomas de Zamora they hope that Uruguay Report the reasons why you did not allow the aircraft to enter your airspace on Tuesday of last week.
On the other hand, the investigators await the reports commissioned from the Federal Police and the City Police in relation to the cell phones and electronic devices seized from crew members -14 Venezuelan citizens and 5 Iranians- who remain housed at the Hotel Plaza Canning, and who cannot leave the country because the Justice withheld their passports.
While news is expected at the judicial level, the actions of the national government and its security forces in relation to the arrival of the plane on June 6 was highlighted this Thursday by the diplomatic representations of the United States and Israel that follow the progress of the issue. Slowly.
The United States Ambassador to Argentina, Mark Stanleymaintained that this country continues with “great interest” the investigations around the plane of the Emtrasur company, and highlighted the “efforts” of the local authorities to clarify the case.
“We are following with great interest the judicial and police investigations of the crew and the plane, and we appreciate the investigative efforts of the Argentine authorities to clarify the situation,” Stanley said through spokesmen for the US Embassy.
Along the same lines, the Embassy of Israel in Argentina had expressed itself, highlighting the “act quickly, effectively and firmly” of the local security forces, who “identified in real time the potential threat” of the plane.
“The state of Israel wishes to express its appreciation for the prompt, effective and firm action of the Argentine security forces that identified in real time the potential threat of the aircraft in light of the sanctions that were imposed on it,” the diplomatic representation said in a statement.
“We follow with great interest the judicial and police investigations of the crew and the plane, and we appreciate the investigative efforts of the Argentine authorities to clarify the situation.Mark Stanley
“This aircraft, which until recently was used by the Iranian company Mahan Air, landed in Argentina carrying a group of Iranian officials, including a senior executive of the Persian airline Qeshm Fars Air“, they indicated in the text.
The statement specified that the State of Israel is “particularly concerned about the activity of the Iranian airlines Mahan Air and Qeshm Fars Air in Latin America, companies that are dedicated to arms trafficking and the transfer of people and equipment operating for the Qud Forces, which are sanctioned by the United States for being involved in terrorist activities”.
How the events happened
The plane from Caracas, Venezuela, arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday, June 6, with a previous stop at the Córdoba airport because that day the fog that existed at the Ezeiza international airport made landing conditions difficult.
Télam was able to confirm from sources that follow the case that on June 6, around 7:00 p.m., the Federal Intelligence Agency received a communication from a delegate in Paraguay with a wake-up call linked to the flight that had arrived in Argentina that noon.
The plane arrived in Argentina with the formal reason – justice investigates if there is any other unspeakable reason – to bring auto parts, information that was verified by the agencies in charge of exercising the respective controls.
The Emtrasur flight crew planned to continue their trip on Tuesday of last week, but that was not possible because the companies with the capacity to sell fuel refused to do so as a result of the United States Department of the Treasury sanctions on the aircraft. .
The following day, on Wednesday the 8th, an attempt was made to load fuel in Uruguay, a country that first authorized the air route for the Emtrasur plane but later denied access to its airspace, which forced the aircraft to return to Ezeiza.
In this context, this Wednesday night, the Venezuelan crew members of the plane that is kidnapped by the justice system at the Ezeiza international airport let their discomfort transcend for not being able to leave the country and even slipped that they would denounce that the plane was raided the last week without a court order.
Through unofficial spokespersons, they released a statement in which they explained that in addition to delivering auto parts, they took advantage of the flight to continue training related to the use of the aircraft, which would explain the presence of a large crew also made up of Iranian citizens. .
From the crew environment, they pointed out that the Iranian citizens who participated in the flight did so as instructors because they are the ones who worked on that plane from 1986 until it was sold, this year, by the Iranian firm Mahan Air to the Venezuelan Emtrasur.
The same sources also asserted that the training and technical service was provided for in the aircraft purchase contract.
The version of the crew members, which will be presented to justice, also highlights that none of them – neither the Venezuelans nor the Iranians – had had any problem with the police or immigration authorities until they arrived in Argentina.
Venezuelan and Iranian citizens, whose passports were withheld, will also demand that justice be issued as quickly as possible given that the situation in which they are involved causes them personal, family and even harm to the company they work for.
