The operation took place in the state of Amazonas, in southern Venezuela, as part of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces’ (FANB) Strategic Operation Bolivarian Shield Independence 200, he revealed on his Instagram account.

  The operation was carried out in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a border area with the Federative Republic of Brazil, and was in response to direct instructions from the constitutional president and commander-in-chief of the FANB, Nicolas Maduro, in a frontal offensive against the trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances throughout the nation, he specified.    

Hernandez said that the aircraft were operating from illegal clandestine airstrips, flagrantly violating the Law for the Comprehensive Defense of Airspace Control, as well as the Law of National Security and Defense.

  He stated that they lacked authorized flight plans, visible identification, and transponder systems for transiting through national airspace.

  The commander-in-chief of the FANB emphasized that, with this latest achievement, Venezuela has now disabled a total of 39 aircraft so far in 2025 and 430 since 2012, “consolidating an insurmountable barrier against organized crime.”

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