What do we know about the private plane held in Zambia?
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| Kenneth Kaunda International Airport |
The Zambian authorities announced the seizure of a large amount of money in dollars, precious metals, some weapons, and ammunition, and ten people, including six Egyptians, on a private plane that came from Cairo at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, sparked widespread controversy on social media.
Media in Zambia published pictures and video clips of what it said were seizures that resulted from a large operation, as a result of which ten foreigners, including six Egyptians, and a Zambian were arrested, on the grounds of involvement in a process of confiscating a sum of money exceeding five million dollars.
The story began when the Director-General of the Drug Control Commission in Zambia, Nason Banda, announced in a press conference on Tuesday, August 15, that a plane carrying dangerous goods landed at Kenneth Kaunda Airport on August 13 at (19:00) local time.
Panda added that, based on information received by the committee and in coordination with other agencies concerned with law enforcement, the plane was raided on August 14 at the airport.
He indicated that, based on this process, the following were seized:
- The amount of $5,697,700.
- Five pistols.
- Seven ammunition storage.
- 126 rounds.
- 602 different metals suspected to be gold weighing a combined 127.2 kilograms.
- Ten people, including a Zambian citizen, six Egyptians, a Dutchman, a Spaniard, and a Latvian, have been detained and are under investigation.
The plane in which the seizures were found and another belonging to a local company was seized.
In its initial statement, the committee stated that the aircraft with the seizures had the Global Express brand TZ-WW.
Later, the media quoted Zambian government officials as saying that the seized sums of money were deposited in the central bank during the investigation period and that the geological examination proved that the seized minerals were not gold, but rather copper, nickel, tin, and zinc.
The Zambian statement left many question marks among followers of various media, especially social media, especially regarding the plane's ownership, and the nature of its flights, and cargo.
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Pages on social media claimed that the name of the plane mentioned in the statement by the Zambian authorities was wrong, and did not refer to any registration number, indicating that the plane bore the registration number (T7-WSS).
Speculation varied on social media about the nationality of the plane, and former editor-in-chief of the Egyptian official agency stated that he had obtained information from an official source stating that the aircraft and the money were not Egyptian, "in fact, the plane bore registration letters (T7), which is a Lebanese registration number, which means that the plane is Lebanese." She only had transit through Cairo airport, and she's not Egyptian."
And one of the platforms specialized in the investigation reported that the plane bears the name The Bombardier Global Express, and it is registered in the Republic of San Marino, noting that the owner of the T7-WSS plane is unknown, but it is operated by a company called “Flying Group Middle East”, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The platform indicated that the plane traveled between several Arab countries and capitals in recent months, including Cairo, Dubai, Doha, Tripoli, and Benghazi, based on data from websites specialized in publishing aircraft tracks. Some linked the flights of this plane mentioned to Tel Aviv as well.
The Egyptian response did not take long after the story of the plane spread on social media and was reported by various international media, and the Egyptian authorities announced on August 16 that the plane did not carry Egyptian nationality, but rather stopped temporarily (transit) at Cairo International Airport earlier.
The official Egyptian Middle East News Agency quoted an informed source, which it did not name, as saying that the plane seized in Zambia, with millions of dollars on board and a number of minerals, weapons, and ammunition, is a “private plane, and it was subject to inspection and ensuring that it meets all safety and security rules that are applied at the highest levels within all Egyptian airports and ports" before taking off for Zambia.
The source added that coordination between the Egyptian and Zambian authorities is currently taking place at the highest level in an effort to ascertain the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident and that the other plane, which the Zambian authorities claimed to have seized, did not initially violate Egyptian airspace.
When the jet made an accidental landing at Cairo International Airport, the source didn't indicate how many people were on board or what kind of cargo was on board.
The BBC has gathered from reliable sources that cargo inspections are not required for transit aircraft that stop at Egyptian airports to refuel with fuel, food, or other standard supplies.
While another platform claimed that there was a coincidence in some cases between the movements of the plane, and the visits of official Egyptian security delegations to Libya, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.