Pressure is mounting on the Dominican Republic to release the pilots and crew of a Canadian charter airline from custody after the crew found and reported a 200-kilogram stash of cocaine inside the plane’s maintenance compartment. Eleven people, including nine Canadians, are in detention over the matter.
Pivot Airlines employee finds cocaine in Bombardier’s avionics bay
According to the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD), the Bombardier CRJ-100 jet (registration C-FWRR) is operated by Toronto-based Pivot Airlines. The jet formerly belonged to now-defunct Air Georgian and operated Air Canada Express services on behalf of Air Canada. Dominican Republic media report the Bombardier is now flying in plain white colors rather than its former Air Canada livery.
According to Pivot Airlines, a maintenance worker employed by the airline found a bag stashed in the plane’s avionics bay before departure on Tuesday, April 5. The plane’s crew called it in to local officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The DNCD, citing “intelligence reports,” says it inspected the plane before departure. The Bombardier had arrived at Punta Cana Airport (PUJ) on March 31.
The DNCD found eight black packages, each containing 25 smaller packages, all firmly packed with a white powder presumed to be cocaine. Authorities promptly grounded the plane and detained all onboard, including the crew who reported the find.
“The crew, passengers and other investigated, as well as the aircraft, Mitsubishi CRJ-100ER, are under the control of the Public Ministry while the investigations continue to determine if there are other possible implicated,” the DNCD said in a statement last week.
“The Public Ministry and the DNCD are keeping several people under investigation (nine Canadians, a Hindu and a Dominican), who are being questioned to determine their possible involvement in the frustrated shipment of the shipment to Canada.”
Pivot Airlines wants its crew released
Understandably, Pivot Airlines is deeply unimpressed and calling for the release of its crew. “It is unacceptable that a Canadian aircrew could remain detained for the duration of a potential twelve-month investigation for a suspected crime that they reported,” a statement from the airline reads. “They do not speak the language, have been identified as reporting the contraband to authorities and fear for their safety. We are deeply concerned for the safety, security and ethical and humane treatment of our crew.”
The unlucky Pivot Airlines employees now cooling their heels in the less than stellar custody conditions include the Bombardier’s captain, first officer, two cabin crew, and the maintenance engineer who found the first package. Dominican Republic law allows for people to be held for up to 12 months while investigations take place, a prospect that has Pivot Airlines (and presumably its five detained employees) alarmed.
Detention sparks considerable interest among Canada’s pilots
Canadian newspaper The National Post says the bust has sparked considerable interest among Canadian pilots. The plane has made 65 flights to the Caribbean region since mid-December. C-FWRR has also made 18 landings and takeoffs in the last year in Suriname due to a fly-in-fly-out contract Pivot Airlines has with a mining company there. But Suriname and many other countries the jet regularly visits are known cocaine hotspots, and flights like last week’s aborted flights are sometimes used to transport cocaine. Simple Flying has covered several airline-related drug busts in its aviation news.
Experts also note the compartments where the drugs were found last week are usually accessed by ground crews but not generally accessed by flight crews.
Meanwhile, there are some signs that the mounting publicity and interest from Global Affairs Canada might see authorities soon let the crew go. On Tuesday, a Dominican Republic court agreed to improve the crew’s detention conditions and outlined a process for their eventual release.
Source: The National Post
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