MEXICO CITY: Venezuela has shot down a suspected drug mafia plane over the western state of Apure on the border with Colombia, the country's Defense Minister, Gen Vladimir Padrino Lopez said early Tuesday on his Twitter account.

Gen Lopez posted a photo of the aircraft downed by the Venezuelan air defence forces, saying:

"It is the wreckage of a King-200 type plane that trespassed into our airspace and was shot down by the personnel of the strategic command of the Bolivarian Armed Forces southeast of Elorza, in the Apure state," he wrote.

The minister did not shed light on the fate of the plan's crew.

In 2013, President Nicolas Maduro announced a law that allowed Venezuelan air defence forces to down planes that belong to Colombian drug traffickers if they attempt to cross into the country's territory.

The legislation was first proposed by then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and cleared the parliament last year. – Bernama