Brazil seizes 1.3 tons of cocaine on Turkish-owned jet rented by Spanish passenger

The Brazilian police on Aug. 4 seized 1.3 tons of cocaine on a Turkish private jet rented by a Spanish national. Journalist Timur Soykan said that the jet was formerly under the inventory of the Turkish Prime Ministry but then sold to private company ACM Holding.

Thursday August 05 2021 12:09 am

Duvar English

The Brazilian police on Aug. 4 seized 1.3 tons of cocaine from several suitcases on a private jet belonging to the Turkish company ACM Holding, which was rented by a Spanish national.

The jet flew from Riyadh to Spain's Malaga on Aug. 2. A day later it flew to Brazil and reached the Fortaleza Airport on Aug. 4 morning where the single passenger on the plane, of Spanish nationality, boarded. The plane later flew to Brazil's Ribeiro Preto from where it was scheduled to head to Belgium.

In a video shared by Ali Kıdık, an İYİ (Good) Party councilor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Brazilian police are seen asking the Spanish passenger to open one of the suitcases. After a fast testing process, the police determined that the suitcase contains cocaine.

Kıdık said that the Spanish passenger named Gonzalez Valdes and the Turkish flight crew had been detained.

Türk iş jetinde onlarca valiz dolusu kokain yakalandı. Brezilya Fortaleza Havalimanı’ndan Belçika’ya uçacak olan yolcunun olduğu iddia edilen kokainlere el konuldu. Yolcu ve pilotlar gözaltına alındı pic.twitter.com/NymFfU0XaJ
— Ali KIDIK (@alikdk) August 4, 2021

Journalist Timur Soykan said that the Turkish jet was a former plane belonging to the Turkish Prime Ministry.

“The Turkish jet in which suitcases full of cocaine were busted, is a very famous plane that used to belong to the Prime Ministry, with the name of TC ATA. Its name was later changed into TC GVA and it was sold,” Soykan tweeted.

Brezilya'da içinde valizler dolusu kokain yakalanan Türk jeti, eskiden çok meşhur olan Başbakanlığa ait TC ATA uçağı. Adı daha sonra değiştirilip TC GVA yapılmış ve satılmıştı. https://t.co/inJaZhcaz1
— timursoykan (@timursoykan) August 4, 2021

The ACM Holding released a written statement with regards to the cocaine bust, saying its plane had been rented by a passenger who has a Spanish passport.

“The relevant customer and his personal items have no connection whatsoever to our company or flight crew, and the inspection of the passenger's belongings are completely under the authority of the airport,” the company said.

Earlier this year, mafia leader Sedat Peker alleged that Turkey had become a hub for cocaine smuggling from South America to the Middle East.