18 Nov 16 7 Comments
On the 2nd of November in 2009, a burnt-out Boeing 727 was discovered abandoned in the Saharan desert of Mali in west Africa. The initial reaction was that the Boeing must have crash-landed on this spot but investigators soon discovered that it had landed safely on the make-shift desert airstrip — a dried out lake bed. Afterwards, it had been deliberately set on fire and left there to burn.
Eventually, some facts were established. The point of the flight was clear: the aircraft was transporting cocaine and "other illegal substances". The UN Office of Drugs and Crime confirmed that the aircraft carried 10 tonnes of cocaine (22,000 pounds, 10,000 kilograms) to be taken to Europe from Mali, known for its smuggling activity. Nine jeeps, using forged number plates, met the aircraft and carried the cargo away. That's where the trail was lost.
The only real evidence remaining was the burnt Boeing 727 and the fact that only drug trade profits could be high enough to be worth destroying the aircraft.
The aircraft was a "ghost ship", history and provenance unknown. This makes the deliberate torching of the aircraft even stranger, having successfully "fallen off the radar" of aviation authorities.
The AeroTransport Data Bank, which tracks aircraft capable of carrying 30 passengers or more, has a special status for aircraft which appear neither to be flying nor stored: UFO, or ultimate fate obscure.