An army commander was injured and his driver killed when a small plane carrying drugs landed on a highway in Quintana Roo early Monday morning.

After the plane touched down on the Chetumal-Mérida highway in Bacalar, its occupants proceeded to shoot at the commander, José Luis Vázquez Araiza, and his driver, who was not identified.

President López Obrador noted the incident in his morning press conference as he was praising the efforts of Mexico’s military across the nation. The president said the plane contained drugs, and local media reports referring to it as a ‘presumed narco-plane.’

The two-seater plane was then abandoned in the area, where the Mexican National Army conducts vehicle traffic control operations.

Bacalar municipality, which borders Belize, has been a hotspot for violence related to drug trafficking in recent years, with organized crime syndicates fighting for control of territory.

In one such confrontation in July last year, nine people were killed and another seriously injured following a shootout on the Chetumal-Felipe Carrillo Puerto highway. Two small planes believed to be part of drug-smuggling operations crashed in the area in October 2018, and another in December 2019.

Source: Noticaribe (sp)