Heroin Found Aboard Colombia President’s Jet

President Ernesto Samper left for New York on Saturday to address the U.N. General Assembly amid a new drug scandal over heroin found stashed on his presidential jet.

The embarrassing discovery on board the presidential Boeing 707 was made at a military air base near Bogota during an inspection prompted by an anonymous caller.

Police and military officials said 7.4 pounds of heroin were found stashed in the nose and tail section of the aircraft at the air base where the jet was being readied for the flight to New York.

Conspiracy theories abounded in Bogota as to how the drugs had been smuggled aboard the closely guarded jet, which is owned by the Colombian air force. Police said no arrests had been made.

Samper, who has defied calls for his resignation because of charges that his 1994 election campaign was partly financed by the Cali drug cartel, told reporters before his departure that the incident was the work of someone trying to hurt him.