Paraguay Charges 4 Airport Insiders Over Miami Drug Jet
PARAGUAY · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The country Paraguay is a landlocked nation in the heart of South America, bordering Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia; its capital is Asunción.
- —What happened On Friday 9 October, anti-drug agents and police arrested four airport-linked suspects, and prosecutors then charged all four.
- —The jet A US-registered Bombardier Challenger business jet, tail number N116HL, flew from Miami via Panama and landed near Asunción on 29 May.
- —The cargo Agents found 261.6 kilos of high-potency cannabis in bags declared as musical instruments; three US passengers were arrested and charged in May.
- —The accused An air traffic controller, the airport’s former deputy security manager, an airport paperwork agent and a logistics supervisor.
- —The US link Paraguay’s anti-drug chief says the work is coordinated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to find who financed the shipments.
- —Still open A judge must rule on the request to jail the four; who paid for the flight has not been made public.
Paraguay arrested four airport insiders on Friday 9 October over a Miami drug jet that landed near Asunción in May. They are accused of helping unload more than 260 kilos of cannabis and trying to get it past airport checks.
The jet was US-registered, three US passengers were arrested in May, and Paraguay says the probe is coordinated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Prosecutors then charged all four and asked a judge to keep them in jail, ABC Color reported early on Saturday.
What Happened on Friday in Luque
Agents of SENAD, the National Anti-Drug Secretariat, and prosecutors carried out four raids in the Miami drug jet case on Friday, ABC Color reported. Three targeted homes in Luque, the city beside the capital that hosts the main airport.
The fourth hit a private company operating inside Silvio Pettirossi International Airport. The raids were dubbed Operation Insider, and agents seized phones, laptops, documents, vehicles and cash.
SENAD detained three people tied to the airport. One is an air traffic controller of DINAC, the civil aviation authority that runs Paraguay’s airports, who was on duty when the jet arrived.
The others are a paperwork agent who handles airport procedures and an operations supervisor at an air logistics company with a hangar there, NPY reported. Separately, a specialised National Police unit arrested Gustavo Sandoval, who was the airport’s deputy security manager at the time.
SENAD chief Jalil Rachid, who heads the agency with the rank of minister, said the local logistics network was “just as important” for investigators. “Without them, the plane practically could not have moved so easily,” he said.
How Prosecutors Say the Cargo Nearly Left the Airport
The prosecutors’ anti-drug trafficking unit then charged four Paraguayans in the Miami drug jet case, ABC Color reported. It accuses them of coordinating the logistics, unloading and attempted release of the cargo.
Prosecutor Ingrid Cubilla, who handled the May seizure, supervised Friday’s raids and arrests. The investigation rests on security camera footage, witness statements and aviation records, ABC Color said.
According to the charge, the plan unravelled on 30 May, when an Air Force sergeant saw bags moved from the jet to a pickup. The logistics supervisor allegedly said they held “musical instruments” and refused an inspection.
Prosecutors say the supervisor then handed his phone to the sergeant so he could speak with the air traffic controller. The controller allegedly asked for the cargo’s release, warned that “everyone would get in trouble” and asked whether the sergeant had a family.
The controller then allegedly turned to Sandoval, who at 10:41 called a major in charge of hangar security to pass on the request. The call offered a “prize or reward” for releasing the goods, and the officer refused, according to the charge.
The charges cite Paraguay’s drug law for international trafficking, trading and criminal association, plus penal code articles on bribery and undue influence. Prosecutors asked a judge to hold all four in pretrial detention and proposed six months to file a formal indictment.
The Jet From Miami and the US Passengers
The Miami drug jet is a Bombardier Challenger registered in the United States as N116HL. It stopped in Panama City and landed near Asunción on the night of Friday 29 May, ABC Color reported.
Federal Aviation Administration records list N116HL as a valid US registration held by a limited liability company in California.
ABC Color said one of the passengers had chartered the plane, which costs about US$150,000 to rent. The paper said the passengers told officials they were carrying only musical instruments.
The next morning, a passenger came to collect the bags from a private hangar and refused a check. SENAD agents were called in and searched them, ABC Color reported.
They found the cannabis in thermal bags, and the passenger was detained. Police and prosecutors later detained two more US passengers in Asunción.
By Sunday 31 May, prosecutors had charged the three US passengers with international drug trafficking and unauthorised possession. ABC Color named them as Troy Anthony Vasquez, David Thomas Wise and Marisol Rivas.
The three were in pretrial detention ordered by Judge Rosarito Montanía as of July, ABC Color reported. Neither of the two pilots was charged, and one of them left Paraguay on a commercial flight after landing, NPY said.
Why US Cannabis Keeps Turning Up in Paraguay
The Miami drug jet case fits a pattern SENAD has been tracking for months. On Wednesday 7 October, it said it had seized over 1,200 kilos of potent US cannabis since August 2023, Hoy reported.
SENAD says such cannabis can fetch up to US$14,000 a kilo in Brazil, ABC Color reported. On that basis, the paper put the jet’s load at about US$3.65 million.
Rachid called Friday’s raids “a second stage” and said the seized phones and documents could lead to “a third phase”, ABC Color reported. He also said investigators are examining expensive properties and luxury vehicles that may not match some suspects’ official incomes, NPY reported.
What It Means for You
For US travellers, the Miami drug jet case is a reminder that trafficking cannabis legal in some US states is a serious crime in Paraguay. The May seizure began at a private hangar, when a passenger refused a baggage check.
The US State Department says penalties for drug possession or trafficking in Paraguay are severe, with long jail sentences and heavy fines. It adds that drug suspects often spend extended periods in detention before trial.
The department rates Paraguay at Level 1, “exercise normal precautions”, in an advisory dated 19 August 2026. Anyone arrested should ask police to notify the US Embassy immediately, it says.
What Is Not Known
Who organised and paid for the Miami drug jet has not been made public. Paraguay has not said whether anyone faces charges in the United States.
A judge has yet to rule on the request to jail the four suspects, and no defence statement has been published. All suspects are presumed innocent until a court rules otherwise.
More: Paraguay news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Miami drug jet case?
The Miami drug jet, a US-registered private plane, landed near Asunción on 29 May carrying 261.6 kilos of high-potency cannabis. Paraguayan media call it the narcojet case. On 9 October four airport-linked suspects were arrested, and prosecutors have since charged them.
Are Americans held in Paraguay over the jet?
Yes. Three US passengers were charged in late May with international drug trafficking and were in pretrial detention as of July, according to ABC Color. Neither pilot was charged.
Is the DEA involved in the Miami drug jet case?
Paraguay’s anti-drug chief, Jalil Rachid, says the investigation is coordinated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The goal is to identify the groups that financed and organised the shipments.
Can I bring cannabis that is legal in my US state to Paraguay?
No. US state laws do not apply in Paraguay, and the State Department warns that drug penalties there are severe, with long jail sentences.
Sources: ABC Color (prosecutors’ charge of four suspects), 10 October 2026; ABC Color (SENAD raids, Jalil Rachid interview), 9 October 2026; ABC Color (arrest of former airport security official), 9 October 2026; NPY, 9 October 2026; ABC Color (seizure), 30 May 2026; ABC Color (US passengers charged), 31 May 2026; US Federal Aviation Administration aircraft registry (N116HL), accessed 10 October 2026; ABC Color (court-ordered forensic review), 21 July 2026; Hoy (SENAD tally of US cannabis seizures), 7 October 2026; US State Department, Paraguay country information, accessed 10 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief