It was stuffed in a tight space that needs air circulation for the equipment....
The ground crew found it....
The ground crew found it....
- Thread starter Dolores
- Start date
Chartered jet retained at PUJ after suspected shipment found on board
It's a fact that DR is one of the biggest drugs transhipment countries in the world. Clearly, given the size of the industry and quantity of drugs being moved annually, there are drugs being moved through Punta Cana. Interesting article here:
Dominican Republic and Venezuela: Cocaine Across the Caribbean
Drug traffickers have a problem exporting drugs from Venezuela. There are few commercial flights, little container shipping, no tourists and a collapsed fishing sector. But the Dominican Republic, 1,400 kilometers away, has it all.
insightcrime.org
To quote from the article:
What is interesting is that the vast majority of cocaine seizures occur on the way INTO the Dominican Republic. This means that once on the island, organized crime is able to move and export drug shipments with relative ease and security. This suggests high-level corruption in local law enforcement, the national anti-drug agency and the port authorities, perhaps including political top cover. Almost all sources consulted agreed on this, but were reluctant to go on the record.
It said "a maintenance worker who was part of the crew" found it. By this I read that the person was flying on the plane.
That's correct based upon the article Bob posted:
"The airline did not identify the detained aircrew but said it includes the captain, first officer, two cabin crew, and a maintenance engineer."https://www.therecord.com/news/wate...e-it-begins-flights-from-waterloo-region.html It seems the aircrew discovered the drugs and reported it to the Dominican authorities.:format(webp)/https://www.therecord.com/content/dam/therecord/news/waterloo-region/2022/04/10/canadian-airline-seeks-safe-return-of-detained-aircrew-after-big-cocaine-bust-in-the-dominican-republic/pivot_airlines.jpg)
Canadian airline seeks ‘safe return’ of detained aircrew after big cocaine bust in the Dominican Republic
Pivot Airlines plans to begin flying this summer out of Waterloo airportwww.therecord.com
Maybe, but not necessarily. Charter airlines frequently contract out ground services. Baggage handlers are often involved.
Remember the French guys not too long ago. They were just convicted in these days. Canadian pilots, I wonder if they were French Canadian
Madame DeFarge's work continues folks
Yes. They were in preventative custody for a long time here. Can't remember if they were convicted here, but they managed to escape somehow back to France where they were convicted.Remember the French guys not too long ago. They were just convicted in these days. Canadian pilots, I wonder if they were French Canadian
Madame DeFarge's work continues folks
They were smart, arrogant French pilots. They drank Chablis and Cabernet. Now, not so much.
Kinda like Airbus.
Some escaped and it was thought with the help of the french military from Guadeloupe. At least one was in Najayo. I met a french guy who was visiting him and who said he has gone crazy due to being in prison.
The aircraft was leased to Air Canada for a number of years and probably logged a large amount of hours. It’s not unusual for an airframe and engine tech to ride along on long trips if a free seat is available on older charter aircraft. If he did find the drugs stashed in the aircraft access compartments, it would lend some credibility to their innocence plea. The aircraft stopover would have allowed refuelers, luggage loaders, etc. the opportunity to stash the drugs in the various compartments. The risk of inflight problems would have been high. The seizure may have inadvertently saved the lives of the flight crew.
The DR and Canadian enforcement agencies work closely and share information, drug mules, money launderers, pedophiles, etc. If any of the flight crew have links to drug shipments, the enforcement agencies already know this. If they are released quickly, they are innocent. If not, they face charges in the DR and possibly other charges if they ever return to Canada.
Canadian prisons are luxurious compared to DR prisons. Clean, single cells, good food, and other amenities. I pity them languishing in a DR prison for a year during the investigation. If they are innocent and eventually released , the trauma of a DR jail term will linger with them for a long time.
Madame Lafarge sat quietly and knitted while the heads of French Royalty were severed by the guillotine according to Dickens. The guillotine has to be one of the best French inventions for mass executions. Efficient and quick and almost humane in a strange sort of way.Remember the French guys not too long ago. They were just convicted in these days. Canadian pilots, I wonder if they were French Canadian
Madame DeFarge's work continues folks
Ok. I guess that's Canadian terminology then. Do pilots on Canadian commercial flights say - Welcome aboard. This is the senior pilot speaking?
The latest report that some of the drugs were stuffed in the avionic bay makes me doubt the pilots were involved. That area can get very hot as it is. Pilots are well aware of the danger of fire in the avionics bay. No pilot would stuff drugs in there and block airflow. They probably were having some indication of a problem with the avionics and sent the maintenance engineer onboard to check it out. The fact that they were hidden like that tells me it was done the night before.
Even if proven innocent, they could be in preventative custody for quite a while during the investigation.
Anything is possible, but I read the aircraft was here for three days. No drug dealer is going to want those drugs sitting in the aircraft for three days.
Wouldn't CCTV at the airport capture the route of the bags from the arrival to their loading onto the plane? See who's hands it touched and start questioning there
I have a feeling it arrived at the airport disguised as something else and the security camera on the ramp was inexplicably inop for a short time.
I heard a story that there were some girls travelling with quite a lot of bags from Punta Cana to Belgium. Suddenly a lot of excitement, they had found drugs in their suitcases, supposedly quite a lot, and the girls were taken to the management office while waiting for the aircraft. I won't name names, but the person who was dealing with them was someone that is very well known, someone from one of those families. Then a few minutes later, the whole terminal was plunged into darkness, a strange and unusual power cut. And after that the women were nowhere to be seen.