Theythinkthey'vespotted a cocainelaboratory, oneofmanyfuelingVenezuela's roleas a cocainecourier, whichisCNNinvestigationhaslearnedisboomingjustasthecountrycollapses.
240 tonneswentfromColombia, Venezuelaand 2018 up, herthirdinoneyear, a U.
S officialtoldus, whichcouldfetch $40 billiononUSstreets.
Mexicanpilotshavepreviouslyrejectedallegationsthey'reactuallyrunningthedrugsondidnotrespondtoseveralrequestsforcomment, butthe U.
S officialhastoldCNNtheseflightsaresurging.
TheyusedtotakeofffromtheremotehiddenrunwaysinthesouthernVenezuelanjungle, butinthelastthreeyearshavemovednorth, U.
S officialtoldCNNtoreduceflyingtime, theyusedtobethree a week, butlastyeartherewerealmostdaily.
Thisyearthey'veseenasmanyaseightin a singleday, originalofficialsaid.
Using 50 hitonrunways, CNNhasseen a confidential U.
S radarmapapproximatedherethatshowsthesharpturnlefttheplanesfromVenezuelatakebeforelandingontheremoteCentralAmericancoastlineoffHondurasbeforethecocainetravelsnorththroughMexicanstates.
Thisiswherewepickupthetrailofthisboomingtrafficagain, onthecoastlinebelow, turnedinto a surrealgraveyardofnarcoplanes.
Cocainecargotheycarryisworthsomanymillionsthatplayeditselfisjust a fractionin a $1,000,000,000 deal, somanydiscardedlike a usedplasticjunglecrammedhere.
Butthatsameopenmarketalsosupplies a keypartofthelogisticshere.
Well, thefire's deprivedmostofthisplaneofkindofdistinguishingcharacteristics, butyoucanstillseeendfortheirend, meaningthisplaneoriginatedintheUnitedStates, brokers, a U.
S officialtellsme, buyupdozensofoldplanesatauctionintheUnitedStatesandhidetheirownershipinshellcompaniestosendhimselftostartthecocainejourneynorthfromVenezuela.
It's a calculusofcorruptionthatmostofficials I spoketoadmitbeggars, beliefandthenopoliceoraidoperationreallyhopetochallengeonethatseesthecollapsingMadurogovernmentistheallegedcuriouscashinginfastin a regionofdesperatedelivery.