The Government of El Salvador has formally rejected statements made by Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, who alleged that a small plane intercepted in Tecomán, Colima had originated in El Salvador.
This claim has been proven false through multiple verified sources, including regional air safety authorities and international monitoring agencies.
On July 3 at 1:00 p.m., the Government of Costa Rica detected a suspicious flight path northwest of its airspace and activated a regional alert through the Central American Air Navigation Protection Network (APAN). According to Costa Rica’s own report, the aircraft entered its territory, temporarily disappeared from radar, and then re-emerged heading toward the Pacific Ocean—well south of El Salvador and Nicaragua, with no indication of incursion into Salvadoran airspace.
This flight path was further confirmed by JIATFS Key West (United States), a U.S. military command responsible for tracking illicit air traffic in Central America. Their assessment clearly states: the plane never flew over or near Salvadoran territory.
Additionally, contrary to speculation, the three individuals captured in Mexico were all Mexican nationals:
- Leonardo Alonso Parra Pérez, pilot (Guasave, Sinaloa)
- José Adán Jalavera Ceballos, copilot (Chihuahua)
- Felipe Villa Gutiérrez (Morelia, Michoacán)
El Salvador reaffirms its firm stance against drug trafficking and transnational crime, and strongly condemns any attempts to unjustly link the nation to criminal operations in which it has no involvement.
“El Salvador does not cover up criminals or tolerate drug trafficking; we didn’t do it before, and we won’t do it now,” stated an official government spokesperson.
The Salvadoran government has officially demanded a correction from Mexican authorities and is recalling its ambassador to Mexico for consultations as diplomatic tensions rise.