Venezuela's Air Force neutralizes unidentified US plane

TEHRAN (defapress) – The Strategic Command Operations of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces said on Wednesday it had "neutralized" an aircraft with a US serial identification number as it violated the country's airspace.

News ID: 81494

Date: 09 July 2020 - 14:40

EOFANB reports that the United Aerospace Defence Command detected an aircraft with a US hull number intruding Venezuelan airspace overnight 8 July and neutralized it with military jets according to protocols", the military said on Twitter, according to Sputnik.

Attached to the post were images of the "neutralized" plane on fire. One could read serial number N339AV on its tail.

According to Flightradar, it was a privately-owned Hawker 800 plane. Its latest registered flight route was in Mexico, from the central Toluca state to Cozumel island in the Caribbean.

There were no official details at this point on the incident's location and the plane's passengers and cargo, but such episodes are typical of illegal drug trafficking. A similar plane was downed by the Venezuelan military last month for purportedly carrying drugs.

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