Armed men steal five small Cessna aircraft

In the early hours of 30 September 2008 a group of 20-25 armed men stole five small Cessna aircraft from an airstrip in the state of Sinaloa after disarming the police officer who was guarding them. The incident occurred at an unpaved strip known as Aerofumigaciones La Perla, located in the town of Navolato. Up to 15 aircraft were parked at the facility at the time. Although the motive for the theft has not been established with certainty, narcotraffickers in Mexico often steal small aircraft to use in their activities. Since November 2007 the Mexican army has confiscated 245 aircraft, and the aircraft stolen on 30 September were among them. The official reason was that they had irregularities that violated aviation laws, but a media report stated that the likely reason was that authorities suspected that they were being used by drug smugglers.