Aircraft seized with USD 1.3 million

A private aircraft with USD 1.37 million on board was seized in Nicaragua when it was about to leave for Venezuela. According to the Venezuelan whistle-blowing agency El Pitazo, the plane is usually parked at the Johan Adolf Pengel (JAP) International Airport located at Zanderij in Suriname. Although it has a Venezuelan registration number, it hardly visits Venezuelan territory. Times of Suriname could not confirm whether the plane did in fact use Suriname as its home base, but sources claim that the plane was spotted at Zanderij. Three people have reportedly been arrested. They claim that they were unaware that there was money on board the plane. Claudio Genova was identified as the pilot while Estela Rodrigeuz and Jonnathan Figueroa were said to be the passengers. Investigators have not yet made any connections but are checking whether the money comes from criminal activities. However, the suspects will remain in custody until the case has been solved. In the meantime it has become clear that Figueroa is a government contractor in Venezuela. Before that, he was attached to the Ministry of Defense as an officer in the army. According to the authorities in Nicaragua, the seizure is the result of an investigation that was launched after the authorities had received information that a plane with a large amount of money would leave for Venezuela.