Blz: Chopper, please

The case of a high powered helicopter found abandoned in the Toledo District has morphed from the mysterious to the contentious as law enforcement agencies from two countries lay claim to the valuable aircraft. Whereas yesterday there was only speculation concerning the Bell 206 LongRanger discovered on the north bank of the Sarstoon River, today the Guatemalan government has come forward with its own explanation. According to Guatemalan Ambassador to Belize, Antonio Castellanos, around noon on Monday, Guatemalan authorities in jet fighter planes pursued a helicopter believed to be running drugs to Mexico over the Peten. They ordered the chopper to land and when the aircraft didn't, they fired several shots. At least two of those bullets hit the helicopter and it made an emergency landing on the Belize side of the Sarstoon River, approximately twenty-five metres from the bank. A Guatemalan patrol boat in the vicinity immediately responded and arrived in time to confiscate five hundred kilos of cocaine that the drug dealers had dumped into the river before they fled the area. Castellanos says later that night the Guatemalan Government verbally notified Belizean authorities of the incident and requested support in securing the helicopter as evidence.