The retired colonel of the Paraguayan Air Force, Edgar Noceda, denounced that he was kidnapped with his co -pilot and forced by an armed group to fly to Bolivia in a criminal operation that occurred on July 12according to the Paraguayan newspaper last minute.
Noceda, 48, told local media that he and his co -pilot, José Augusto Pérez (42), transported a 500 kilos safe from Silvio Pettirossi airport to a stay in Canindeyú, when they were intercepted by four armed men. “I knew that going to Bolivia was a trip without return”, Said the pilot.
According to his testimony, the criminals hit him in the head, fired near his feet and forced them to take off again. Once in the air, they delivered coordinates that marked towards Bolivian territory. “Any false movement was sure death”he said.
The pilot said the aircraft did not have enough fuel to reach the destination. After almost an hour and a half of flight, he made a forced landing on a neighborhood path of Quyquyhó, in Paraguarí. The maneuver alerted settlers in the area, who recorded images of the fact.
Police arrived at the scene three hours later and the Prosecutor’s Office only at night. In the first instance, both Noceda and Pérez were arrested under suspicion of complicity with the criminal organization. The transported safe appeared empty.
Subsequently, the authorities captured the Brazilian Newton Sergio Dias Donni, 77, identified by the pilots as one of the kidnappers. The detainee claimed to have been forced by criminals, although records indicate a history of irregular flights.
The case generated concern in the Association of Civil Pilots of Paraguay, which warned about the vulnerability of airspace and lack of effective controls. “There are no guarantees to exercise the pilot profession”Noceda warned, who along with his co -pilot resumed his work, although he assured that the experience marked a before and after in his life.
