Former Bolivian beauty queen arrested after private plane is forced to make emergency landing
A beauty queen and a 52-year-old man were on board a private plane when it was forced into an emergency landing where authorities made a shock discovery on board.
A former beauty queen has been arrested after cops made a shocking discovery when the plane she was on landed in a field.
Beauty queen Jade Isabela Callau Barriga, 21, was reported on board a private aircraft with Brazilian national Carlos Costa Diaz, 52, when the flight was forced to make an emergency landing.
The aircraft landed in a field in Islas de Ibicuy in Entre Rios, Argentina.
The shock incident saw locals call the police which led to the discovery of over 350kg of pure cocaine.
After searching the Cessna 210 aircraft, authorities found 359kg of cocaine split into 10 separate packages.
The seizure has been valued at a whopping €14 million or $A23.3 million.
Local authorities confirmed the incident hapened in the early hours of last Thursday morning.
“The Entre Ríos police were informed about the landing of a plane in a field in the department of Islas del Ibicuy,” Entre Rios Security Minister Nestor Roncaglia said.
“A couple were travelling in the plane, who fled and were later arrested. They were a man from Brazil and a woman from Bolivia.
“In view of this event, the federal judge on duty, Dr Analía Ramponi, was informed.”
It has been claimed that Barriga was on-board the aircraft as a trusted member of a criminal gang linked to her family to stop the haul from being stolen.
An unnamed source close to the investigation told local media: “Sometimes they send a trusted person with the cargo because they do not know or trust the pilot.”
Two crew members who were also on-board the aircraft reportedly attempted to evade arrest by telling the authorities two versions of events to explain the sudden landing.
One said that the beauty queen was pregnant and so they unexpectedly landed while the other claimed they had rand out of fuel.
Neither excuses were accepted by police though Roncaglia confirmed the aircraft had run out of fuel.
The minister said the plane and its contents had come from Bolivia and that it “had an Argentine licence plate”.
“There was no damage, but it ran out of fuel,” the minister said.
He added: “Everything indicates that the plane came from Bolivia and would have travelled some 1500 kilometres.
“The final destination was not Entre Rios, as the forced landing was down to a lack of fuel.”
Diaz and Barriga were taken into police custody with boosted security.
Local law enforcement was reportedly concerned that due to their criminal affiliations and a gang suspected of behind the shipment, there may be attempts to free them from prison.
Barriga won a beauty contest in San Borja in northern Bolivia in 2019 and now regularly posts salacious pictures on social media and has made numerous television appearances.
San Borja is allegedly where Jorge Adalid Granier Ruiza, kingpin of secret flights and a drug lord captured in Brazil comes from.
Bolivia is one of the highest cultivators of coca plants where cocaine comes from.
This originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission
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