Rehoboth Beach (US)(AP): A small private airplane mistakenly entered restricted airspace near President Joe Biden's Delaware vacation home Saturday, prompting the brief evacuation of the president and first lady, the White House and the Secret Service said.

The White House said there was no threat to Biden or his family and that precautionary measures were taken.

After the situation was assessed, Biden and his wife, Jill, returned to their Rehoboth Beach home.

The Secret Service said in a statement that the plane was immediately escorted from the restricted airspace after mistakenly entering a secured area.

The agency said it would interview the pilot who, according to a preliminary investigation, was not on the proper radio channel and was not following published flight guidance.

As is standard practice for presidential trips outside Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration published flight restrictions earlier this week before Biden's beach town visit.

The restrictions include a 10-mile radius no-fly zone contained with a 30-mile restricted zone.

A CBS News reporter said on Twitter that he saw Biden motorcading to a Rehoboth Beach fire station. The group of reporters that travels with the president was not part of the motorcade.

Federal regulations require pilots to check for flight restrictions along their route before taking off.

Still, accidental airspace breaches, particularly around temporary restricted zones, are common.

U.S. military jets and Coast Guard helicopters are often used to intercept any planes that violate the flight restrictions around the president.

Intercepted planes are diverted to a nearby airfield where aircrews are interviewed by law enforcement and face potential criminal or civil penalties. (AP)

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police jointly busted an illegal alprazolam-making factory in the neighbouring state and arrested three men with 22 kg of psychotropic substances and the drug, valued at Rs 30 lakh, officials said on Monday.

The accused had rented a pharmaceutical unit to manufacture the drug, prescribed for anxiety and panic disorders, in an industrial area near Bhiwadi town of Rajasthan.

Alprazolam falls under the purview of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act because of its misuse as a psychotropic substance, according to an official release.

Acting on specific inputs, personnel of Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police raided the unit on Sunday, leading to the arrest of Anshul Shastri, Akhilesh Maurya, and Krishnakumar Yadav.

Police recovered 5 kg of alprazolam and 17 kg of a mixture of other psychotropic substances used as raw material, taking the total seizure to 22 kg, valued at around Rs 30 lakh, said the release.

The substances were allegedly being manufactured illegally without any authorisation or licence, and were meant for sale in the illicit drug market.

A preliminary investigation suggested that one of the arrested accused, Shastri, was involved in sourcing raw materials required for manufacturing alprazolam through his trading firm, according to the release.

Shastri and his business partner Maurya took a pharma unit in Bhiwadi on rent with the help of Yadav, a chemist versed in the production process, it said.

Rajasthan Police registered an FIR at the Bhiwadi sector-3 police station following the raid under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and are investigating further.