Mexico quizzes passengers from burned Venezuela flight

MEXICO CITY - Mexican prosecutors have questioned three passengers from a mysterious flight that ended with Venezuelan authorities burning down the airplane, the attorney general's office said Wednesday.

Venezuelan authorities forced the small executive jet to land and destroyed it after it entered its territory earlier this month, alleging that it was full of cocaine.

The Mexican government has asked Caracas for more information about the plane and the fate of the two pilots and a passenger who were on board when it landed in western Venezuela.

The aircraft had taken off from the central Mexican state of Queretaro on November 4 with seven people on board, making a stop in a Caribbean island of Bonaire where it dropped off four passengers.

The four passengers returned to Mexico City via Colombia three days later, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

Three have been questioned and the fourth will meet authorities later.

Investigators found that the two missing pilots and passenger were carrying fake passports, while the four others had real documents.

"The whereabouts of the pilots and passenger who were traveling with a fake passport are unknown," it said.

Venezuelan officials have said that the three escaped after the plane landed as part of its campaign to force down suspected drug flights.

Mexico summoned the Venezuelan ambassador over the affair and sent a diplomatic note asking for information.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said the issue was "overcome" after telephone talks with Mexican counterpart Jose Antonio Meade.

The attorney general's office said it was waiting for information from Venezuela as part of an agreement between the nations.