Suriname Finds Illegal Airstrip, Burned Plane
Security: Suriname
Key Facts
—Who. A mixed team of Narcotics Brigade officers, police intelligence staff and the Arrest Team of the Suriname Police Force.
—What. An illegal airstrip with fresh tyre tracks, dozens of fuel drums and jerrycans, and a burned-out twin-engine plane with buried engines.
—Where. The Goliath area of Para district, northern Suriname.
—When. Found on Sunday 4 October 2026; announced by police on Tuesday 6 October.
—US link. A 2023 study by the Washington think tank CSIS names Suriname among the most frequent departure countries for cocaine seized by European customs, just below Colombia and Paraguay.
—Status. No suspects named and no arrests announced. The Narcotics Brigade leads the investigation.
—As of. 7 October 2026, 23:00 GMT.
Police in Suriname found an illegal airstrip in the Goliath area of Para district on Sunday 4 October 2026, with a burned-out twin-engine plane nearby. The find matters to US readers because a Washington think tank ranks Suriname among the most frequent departure countries for cocaine seized by European customs.
A mixed team of Narcotics Brigade officers, police intelligence staff and the Arrest Team, the force’s arrest unit, made the find. The Suriname Police Force published its statement on Tuesday 6 October.
What We Know
On Sunday 4 October, officers found an abandoned stretch of road that had been used as a landing strip, the police said. Fresh tyre tracks showed that a plane had operated there very recently.
Dozens of drums and jerrycans lay along the strip, some holding suspected aviation fuel and others empty. Not far away stood a burned-out twin-engine aircraft whose engines had been buried on the spot, probably to destroy evidence.
After consulting the Public Prosecutor’s Office, known locally as the OM, police destroyed the suspected fuel on site. Prosecutors have ordered that the airstrip be made unusable.
The Narcotics Brigade is leading the investigation, according to the police statement. Waterkant, a Paramaribo news site, reported that the finds and conditions at the scene led police to assume with near certainty that it was a drug plane.
What Is Not Known
Police have named no suspects and have announced no arrests. Their statement gives no aircraft make, registration or origin, and it does not say that any drugs were found.
It is also unclear when the plane was burned or how long the strip had been in use. Nobody has said who owned the aircraft.
A Familiar Spot for Clandestine Flights
Goliath has appeared in Suriname’s campaign against illegal airstrips before. On Tuesday 29 July 2025, the Judicial Intervention Team disabled a newly built strip there, about 950 metres long and 30 metres wide, Waterkant reported.
That operation found no goods or suspects, and the team blew up the strip at several points so that it could not be reused. The group behind it was not identified.
In January 2026, the same team found a well-kept strip deep in Goliath with a camouflaged twin-engine plane in good technical condition. The army’s air wing helped fly the aircraft to Paramaribo on Wednesday 21 January, Waterkant reported.
Another case came on 12 February 2026 near Witagron in western Suriname. Investigators found an airstrip, about 15,000 litres of diesel and a semi-submersible boat under construction that could carry more than 10 tonnes of drugs, Waterkant reported.
Six people, three Colombians and three Surinamese, were arrested between 12 and 14 February. Several armed Colombians escaped during the operation.
Why Suriname Matters to the Cocaine Trade
Suriname lies between Guyana and French Guiana, with Brazil to the south and the Atlantic to the north. Its interior is mostly rainforest and thinly populated, which makes watching it hard.
A July 2023 study by CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, ranked Suriname among the most frequent departure countries for cocaine seized by European customs. It placed Suriname just below Colombia and Paraguay.
The study added that French authorities assessed Suriname in 2020 as the most frequently detected departure country for cocaine reaching France. Cocaine typically leaves Suriname with couriers, it said, and traffickers also drop loads at sea for cargo ships to collect.
Hidden airstrips are a regional problem, not a Surinamese one alone. The Rio Times reported that El Tiempo, a Colombian daily, said on 30 September that Colombian intelligence has mapped 93 airstrips used by the ELN guerrilla inside Venezuela.
What the President Has Said
President Jennifer Simons raised the issue on Wednesday 30 September in her annual address to the National Assembly, Suriname’s parliament. Departing from her written text, she said in Dutch that she wants no drug planes in her interior, Starnieuws reported.
She said Suriname has asked for international support and needs more information about what happens in the interior. She pointed to cooperation with Brazil and to an agreement that she said lies before parliament, according to Starnieuws.
Waterkant linked the Para find to that speech, noting that it came days later. The police statement itself says the team acted on intelligence information.
What Happens Next
Prosecutors have ordered the strip made unusable. In the July 2025 case, the team used explosives at several points so that no plane could land again.
The Narcotics Brigade has not said whether it has identified the plane’s owners or the people who used the strip. No timetable for findings or charges has been given.
What It Means for Travelers and US Readers
For US readers, the link is the cocaine trade, since a Washington think tank ranks Suriname among the most frequent departure countries for cocaine seized by European customs. The case also shows how thinly the state watches its interior, which matters to companies and visitors working beyond Paramaribo.
Nothing in the police statement points to any risk to visitors in Paramaribo or on the coast. Travelers should still check the current US State Department advisory for Suriname before they go.
More: Suriname news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was the illegal airstrip in Suriname found?
In the Goliath area of Para, a district in northern Suriname. Police said an abandoned stretch of road had been used as a landing strip.
Was anyone arrested?
No arrests have been announced. The Narcotics Brigade is continuing the investigation.
Why do drug planes concern Suriname?
A 2023 CSIS study ranked Suriname just below Colombia and Paraguay among departure countries for cocaine seized by European customs. President Simons says the state needs more information about its thinly populated interior.
What happens to the airstrip now?
Prosecutors have ordered that it be made unusable. In a July 2025 case, a justice task force used explosives so that no plane could land again.
Sources
Suriname Police Force · Waterkant, 6 Oct 2026 · Suriname Herald, 6 Oct 2026 · Starnieuws · Suriname Herald, 4 Oct 2026 · Waterkant, 30 Jul 2025 · Waterkant, 22 Jan 2026 · Waterkant, 14 Feb 2026 · CSIS, 14 Jul 2023
Connected Coverage
More Suriname coverage on The Rio Times
Suriname’s Simons Wants No Drug Planes in the Interior
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