Venezuela's Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) reported on Thursday the destruction of a plane from the island of Cozumel in Mexico after it entered the country's airspace without permission. The strategic operations commander of the armed forces, Domingo Hernández Lárez, has assured that it was a white twin-engine Gulfstream aircraft with V-GRS license plates and described it as an “invasion aircraft”.
The official has assured that the ship was detected by radars and entered the area without permission and that a “defense plan” was activated to “destroy the enemy aircraft.” In a message on his social networks, he shared photos showing the plane in mid-flight and later other images showing the remains of the burning plane in a forested area in Zulia state, in the west of the country.
1/4🔁 Our country is not a traveler! Venezuela has someone to defend it! #FANB immobilizes an invasion aircraft from Cozumel, Mexico, in the municipality of Catatumbo, Zulia state, rendering it useless on the ground.
It is a twin-engine Gulfstream aircraft, white, registration V3-GRS, pic.twitter.com/QAeRtRAJxn
— CEOFANB (@CEOFANBVE) January 25, 2024
Over the past year, Bolivarian armed forces have used their defensive artillery to destroy aircraft allegedly linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining. At least 38 aircraft destroyed were recorded in 2023. Last November, Venezuelan forces also disabled another “enemy” aircraft in Apure state.