A recent attempt on 29 November 2018 to steal a Piper PA-23 twin engine plane from the Arroyo Barril Airport in Samana has now entangled four members of the armed forces. Those military officials include a full colonel of the Armada, equal to the OF 5 rank of NATO, a sergeant, a private and a 1st level inspector for the CESAC, the Specialized Corps for Airport Security. The judicial authorities are asking for a one-year preventive custody for the accused.
According to the reports, these four are tied to the scheme for hijacking the aircraft along with Antonio Rodriguez Vasquez, Carlos Daniel Carpio (an inspector for Aerodom, the airport operator) and the mechanic Esmeraldo Calcaño. Also involved in this case are the Colombian pilots Ramon Castillo Manriquez and Orlando Morales Gaitan. The former is now a fugitive from justice but Gaitan is in custody.
According to the case file, these military and civilian persons prepared the conditions necessary for the pilots to take the aircraft. They closed the airport, turned off the runway lights and even allowed the two Colombians to take out the seats of the airplane in order to facilitate the takeoff.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nacional
10 December 2018
