France
Sports plane pursued by fighter jet drops drugs
The Fessenheim nuclear power plant in eastern France has been shut down. photo
© Jean-Francois Badias/AP/dpa/Archive
A plane flies illegally over the decommissioned Fessenheim nuclear power plant, whereupon an interceptor takes off. 500 kilometers later, the pilot makes a surprising discovery.
A sports pilot who was being pursued by a French interceptor after flying over a no longer operated nuclear power plant on the German border dropped packages of drugs before the forced landing. The broadcaster France Info reported on Monday, citing the investigators.
The plane was noticed on Saturday during the forbidden overflight of the decommissioned French nuclear power plant Fessenheim am Rhein near Freiburg im Breisgau. A Rafale interceptor then rose to force the plane to land. Around 500 kilometers further over southern France, the Rafale pilot saw several packages being thrown out of the sports plane.
According to the report, the sports pilot landed at Aubenas airfield, where the pilot threatened the staff with death and fled on foot. Police special forces arrested the Polish pilot near the airfield.
As the broadcaster France bleu reported, the man was already known to the authorities for drug trafficking. The dropped packages were discovered in several small mountain villages. They contained a synthetic drug that had effects similar to cocaine.