Colombian national Juan David Caicedo Villa and Venezuelan national Gustavo Adolfo Riascos Gomez were on Friday 19 November 2021 charged before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates Court.
The duo appeared before the Chief Magistrate following investigations that had been conducted by the Guyana Police Force and as a result, the two foreign nationals were charged with and pleaded guilty to a multitude of aviation-related offences.
In relation to the charge of operating an aircraft without insurance, Villa and Gomez were both fined one million dollars and sentenced to serve 3 years in prison. For the charge of interfering with an aircraft, both were fined three million dollars and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. For the charge of operating a civil aircraft without an airworthiness certificate, both were sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. And for operating an aircraft in a negligent manner, Villa and Gomez were fined three million dollars each and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. All sentences will run concurrently.
Villa and Gomez entered Guyana on November 4, 2021, via an unregistered aircraft that landed at the Mahdia airstrip in Region 8 (Potaro-Siparuni) at 18:00 hours. They were subsequently charged with illegal entry to the country and possession of two grams of
marijuana. When questioned by Ranks of the Guyana Police force, they claimed to have been lost and were looking for gold.
Colombian, Venezuelan nationals charged with a multitude of aviation-related offences
