SAN SALVADOR, July 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele recalled his ambassador to Mexico on Wednesday and asked the country to clarify its security chief's claim that an intercepted plane loaded with cocaine had originated in El Salvador.

Mexican security secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said Tuesday that authorities had detected a small plane "originating in El Salvador" carrying 428 kilos (940 pounds) of cocaine, and that they had arrested three people.

Bukele called the claim "FALSE" in a post on X Wednesday and said he was recalling El Salvador's ambassador Delmy Canas.

"We demand an immediate clarification and rectification from the Mexican government," Bukele said separately at a press conference, releasing a video of Garcia Harfuch's statements.

According to the Salvadoran president, last week Costa Rica reported "a suspicious aircraft trace northwest of its territory," which triggered a "regional alert" in a Central American air security network.

The plane's "trace" indicated that it "entered Costa Rica, briefly disappeared from radar, and then reappeared, heading out toward the Pacific Ocean," Bukele added, underscoring that the three people arrested were Mexican citizens.

"Our radars did not register any aerial contact within our territory," said Bukele, who displayed a map he said "clearly shows" the route "well south of El Salvador and Nicaragua."

The trace "was confirmed" by the United States Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), which "monitors illicit trafficking in the region," he added.

"El Salvador does not hide criminals or tolerate drug trafficking. We didn't do it before, and we won't do it now. Nor will we allow them to try to involve us in operations that don't concern us or belong to us," Bukele said.

Central America is a gateway for cocaine sent from South American cartels to the United States, the world's largest consumer of the drug.

Bukele is widely popular for his war on gangs, which has reduced violence in his country to historic lows, but he has drawn criticism from rights groups for restricting freedoms and allowing mass arrests without a warrant.