Ex-Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli's aircraft seized in Guatemala
PANAMA CITY - An aircraft belonging to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was detained at Guatemala’s international airport by the local anti-narcotics prosecutor’s office at the request of U.S. authorities, Guatemalan authorities said late on Friday.
The reasons for the United States requesting the operation
were not immediately clear.
Guatemalan authorities said in a statement that the
operation was carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office against Narcoactivity,
with the support of a special unit focused on crimes in airports.
Martinelli, who served as president from 2009 to 2014, was
extradited from the United States and jailed in Panama on charges that he had
used public money to spy on political rivals while in office. He was released
in 2019 after being found not guilty. Last year, he was banned from leaving the
country while under investigation for money laundering.
The statement did not refer to Martinelli’s whereabouts.
The former president said on his Twitter account that the
aircraft, with registration N799RM, was acquired in 2005 and it was currently
in the process of changing its flag.
He added that the prosecutor’s office that carried out the
detention was assigned to the operation because it performs functions at the
airport, but denied that the operation had to do with its mandate of fighting
drug trafficking.
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