Bukele Denies Harfuch’s Account of Small Plane Seized in Colima

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, denied the allegations made by the head of the Mexican Federal Government’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar Hamid García Harfuch, regarding the origin of a small plane seized in the municipality of Tecomán, Colima, containing 428 kilograms of cocaine.

During the morning press conference chaired by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo on July 8, 2025, García Harfuch reported that, as a result of the work of the National Center for Surveillance and Protection of Airspace, an aircraft from El Salvador carrying drugs had been intercepted, and three Mexicans were arrested. According to the federal official, the shipment had an estimated value of 96 million pesos.

Regarding this statement, the Salvadoran president published a message on his social media on July 9, 2025, in which he denied that the aircraft originated in his country. Bukele asserted that the flight route began in Costa Rica, not El Salvador. He also demanded that the Mexican government clarify and officially correct García Harfuch’s statements.

“The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, Omar García Harfuch, declared that the small plane intercepted in Tecomán, Colima, originated in El Salvador. FALSE. On July 3, at 1:00 p.m., Costa Rica reported a suspicious flight path northwest of its territory. It was they who activated the regional alert through APAN, a Central American aviation security network,” Bukele stated.