Costa Rica seizes jet carrying a ton of cocaine

Cocaine. AFP FILE PHOTO

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The Costa Rican government says it has seized a jet carrying more than a ton of cocaine and it detained

the two pilots from Guatemala.

The country’s public safety ministry says the small plane was flying from Cali, Colombia, before it made an emergency landing Monday at a private airstrip on the Caribbean coast.

The ministry says police detained a Guatemalan man and his adult son with 51 packages holding 44 pounds of cocaine each. The suspects are in the custody of prosecutors in the province of Limon.

Authorities say police determined that the jet belongs to the owner of a chain of retail stores in Guatemala and are trying to locate him.

Officers also suspect a criminal gang in the area helped the jet carry out the emergency landing.