Hiiraan Online
Sunday April 8, 2018
Mogadishu (HOL) - An UAE Cargo plane loaded with over nine million U.S. dollars was on Sunday intercepted at Adan-Adde International Airport.
A security official at Mogadishu Airport said they seized three suitcases containing $9.6 million from the Boeing 737/700 told Hiiraan Online that Royal Jet operated flight arrived from the capital city of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi.
"The plane which is owned by an UAE company landed at Adan Adde International Airport shortly after 2:30 ( local time). The plane flew from Abu Dhabi," said the officer.
He said the security officials of the airport suspected the plane after the crew failed to disclose the information of the plane.
"The officials met the pilot and two other people who disembarked from the plane but they (the pilot and his crew) were reluctant. Then security officials conducted a thorough search of the plane," he noted.
The official confirmed that the security officials discovered that plane was carrying over $9.6 Million USD.
" After searching, the officials founded bags of money. One of the passengers of the plane told the officials that the planes $9.6 Million Dollar," he said.
The officer said he was ordered to offload the consignment.
After interventions by Somali government officials and officials from UAE's embassy in Mogadishu, the plane was allowed to take off back to UAE, according to the security official.
He pointed out that the money was deposited at Somali Central Bank until an investigation is complete. There are however some security officials who have said that cash was delivered to the UAE.
"The money was moved the Central Bank, where it will be kept till the investigations are concluded," he said.
Ambassador Mohammed Ahmed Othman Al Hammadi, UAE envoy to Mogadishu, told VOA Somali that the money was for the salary of the Somali soldiers