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WORLD NEWSThursday 15 October 2015
Narco planes, millions in payloads, fly past Peru military
FRANK BAJAK Peruvian counternarcotics police blast a hole in a clandestine airstrip used by cocaine traffick- group Transparency Inter-
Associated Press ers in Ciudad Constitucion, Peru. President Ollanta Humala points to the cratering of these land- national, Jose Ugaz, said
MAZAMARI, Peru (AP) — ing strips more than 550 times as part of the country’s success against the drug trade. Traffickers he hoped AP’s investiga-
Small planes are hauling quickly fill the holes using local labor, police say. tion would spur debate in
more than a ton of co- the presidential campaign.
caine a day out of remote (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Sadly, the Peruvian lawyer
jungles that have become said, military drug corrup-
the world’s No. 1 coca-pro- required state-of-the-art ra- more than 300 kilograms plate of beefsteak.” tion is an open secret in the
ducing region and Peru’s dar, a $71 million expendi- (660 pounds) of partially re- One accused narco-pilot country.
military has turned a blind ture it announced last No- fined cocaine, police say. interviewed by the AP said “It’s been going on for
eye, an Associated Press in- vember, and President Ol- The AP obtained video of some local military com- some time but unfortunate-
vestigation has found. lanta Humala has just eight two such transactions tak- manders charge $10,000 ly no one has done any-
Drug corruption is rife across months left in office and an en by drug police who said per flight to let cocaine thing.”
Peruvian institutions. approval rating below 15 they were too outgunned commerce go unhindered. Deputy Defense Minister
But the narco-flight plague percent. by assault rifle-wielding sen- The AP renewed requests Ivan Vega, who runs coun-
exposes the armed forces’ The “narco planes” have tinels to intervene. Wednesday to discuss the terinsurgency efforts in the
drug-war failure because touched down just minutes Wilson Barrantes, a retired accusations with Peru’s region, told the AP that he
the military controls the by air from military bases in army general who has long defense minister and joint knew of no military officials
valley, from which Bolivia- the nearly road-less region complained about military armed forces command. under investigation.
bound flights stepped up known by its Spanish acro- drug corruption, said giving It also contacted the presi- “Corruption exists, but we
in tempo in the past few nym as the VRAEM. the armed forces control dent’s office. None imme- are always looking out for
years, according to prose- About four times a day, of the cocaine-producing diately responded. it,” he said.
cutors, drug police, former they drop onto dirt airstrips, valley is “like putting four The board chairman of the “If we know of anyone in-
military officers and cur- deliver cash and pick up street dogs to guard a anti-corruption nonprofit volved, we’ll throw the
rent and former U.S. drug book at them.”
agents. Humala, a former army lieu-
In part because of the near- tenant colonel, said on tak-
ly unimpeded “air bridge” ing office in 2011 that com-
from the Apurimac, Ene batting illicit drugs was a
and Mantaro river valley, priority. His government has
Peru surpassed Colombia destroyed record amounts
in 2012 as the world’s No. of coca leaf.
1 cocaine exporter. Police But that’s not enough, says
say the airborne flow ac- Sonia Medina, the public
counts for roughly half of prosecutor for illicit drugs.
its production, with each Trafficking and related cor-
planeload worth at least ruption in the police, mili-
$7.2 million overseas. tary, courts and criminal
The trafficking got so bra- justice system have gone
zen that congress voted “from bad to worse” on
unanimously in August to Humala’s watch, she said.
authorize shooting down “What we are doing in
the single-engine planes. counter-narcotics is com-
But the government pletely distorted, incoher-
scrapped plans to buy the ent and inert.”q
Honduras seizes businesses of prominent family accused in US
FREDDY CUEVAS tral American drug traffick- come via electronic trans-
ers. The Rosenthals have fer or check or whether
Associated Press denied the allegations. they would arrive in one
Yankel Rosenthal was ar- lump sum or various pay-
TEGUCIGALPA, Hondu- rested in Miami and this ments.
week agreed to be trans- Evasico Asencio, who the
ras (AP) — The Honduran ferred to New York where government put in charge
the indictment was issued. of liquidating the bank with
government on Wednes- The government is also forc- some 220,000 clients, said,
ing the liquidation of the “All of the funds are guar-
day seized 19 businesses family’s Banco Continen- anteed and everyone will
tal. On Wednesday, furi- be paid everything.”
belonging to Grupo Con- ous clients demanded their Ethel Deras, president of
savings and blocked some the National Banking and
tinental and five homes of streets.“I’m outraged,” said Insurance Commission, said
Joaquin Velasquez, a civil the return of customers’
company vice president engineer. “Everything I’ve deposits would be done
made professionally is in alphabetically and each
Jaime Rosenthal and two this bank ... I don’t know would be able to withdraw
what to do.” up to $9,600 from four other
other relatives accused by He did not know when he banks.
would receive his savings, The returns would begin this
the United States of money who would give them to week with the smallest de-
him, whether they would positors, she said.q
laundering.
The government said in a
statement that it wants to
prevent the transfer of as- In this 2005 photo, businessman and former Honduran presiden-
tial candidate Jaime Rosenthal smiles in Tegucigalpa, Hondu-
sets during the investiga- ras.
tion. (AP Photo)
Hundreds of police, sol- Department announced of Grupo Continental had
that Rosenthal, his son Yani been designated under
diers, judges and prosecu- Rosenthal and nephew the Kingpin Act. U.S. pros-
Yankel Rosenthal along ecutors accuse them of
tors participated in the with the varied businesses laundering money for Cen-
actions in five provinces
across Honduras.
On Oct. 7, the U.S. Treasury
