"My name is Rob and I'm a Canadian airline pilot and this is my crew
"Mr. prime minister, our lives are in danger and we need your help..."
A strange underworld tale is unfolding in the Dominican Republic, a country in the Caribbean
where a flight crew from Canada and all seven passengers of a private charter plane were jailed —
after the crew stumbled across a mysterious bag hidden on board. The Mob Reporter here
with news of what's happening to a pilot and his flight crew for doing the right thing — reporting
bags dangerously hidden in their plane that turned out to be a transnational smuggling
ring's 25 million dollar cargo. Rather than being hailed as heroes, they were thrown into prison
where they faced vivid threats and extortion. It's an extraordinary case. Let me tell you about it
It all started before departure from Punta Cana airport during a maintenance check of a chartered
jet. This plane, in fact, owned by Pivot airlines, a small Canadian charter airline company. The flight
crew's electrical mechanic opened a small door to the avionics bay in the plane's fuselage, that's
underneath the cockpit. There he spotted a bag where no bag should be. The small bay is supposed
to hold only wires and electronics. Not knowing what it was but knowing it shouldn't be there, the
mechanic reported it to his captain and Canada's federal police and local Dominican authorities
were both alerted. After Dominican officers arrived at the airport they pulled out eight Nike sports
bags from the tight space. Inside each of the zipped bags were stacks of neatly wrapped bricks
many of them marked with a large red X. There were 210 bricks in all, presumptively testing positive
for coke that police say carries a street value of $25-million. Now this happened in April,
as reported by my friend and colleague Tom Blackwell; I'll put some links to his stories
in my description below. Now here's the shocker: police arrested the entire Canadian flight crew —
two pilots, two flight attendants, and the mechanic — and their six passengers, and sent
them all to prison pending an investigation. The thing is, the investigation might take a year
They said it was terrifying and dangerous. The men and the women were sent to separate cramped
communal cells where there was little supervision from guards. An inmate boss seemed to run the show —
he had a lawn chair for his throne. There is a political and public relations campaign
to free the crew, including this direct appeal to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
This was recorded by the crew from an undisclosed location: "We've been threatened with death by
narco criminals, extorted by inmates, and have lived in inhumane and humiliating conditions
"In prison a dead body was placed outside of our cell
"and we were told that we would be next. We are living a nightmare..." Now the crew had already
been publicly identified as having blown the whistle on the international plot, and what
they did certainly cost someone a lot of money and likely someone significantly dangerous
They felt particularly vulnerable. They were clearly not locals and other inmates targeted them
They faced repeated threats and demands for money; even the guards demanded cash, a member of the crew
said. Because the other inmates spoke Spanish not English, they used translation apps on their
phones to make their threats understood, Captain Rob DiVinenzo told Tom. The inmates demanded the
Canadians call their families and tell them to wire money to their families in the Dominican
They also showed them videos of dead people. Now that's a message needing no translation
The demand started as soon as the crew awoke: "Money today or you won't be going to bed tonight"
Their refusals brought reprisals and more threats. Beyond that, the cells weren't a pleasant place
There was a hole in the ground for a toilet and as the most vulnerable on the inmate pecking order
that became their sleeping area. They were held nine days before being released on bail
And although out of jail for now, the crew and the passengers must remain in the Dominican
The prosecutor has appealed their release and want them back behind bars for up to a year. During the
investigation, the threats against the crew haven't stopped, according to the airline. While out on bail
it was necessary to hire an international security firm to protect them. If they are sent back to jail
they fear they won't get out alive. "When you meet with President Luis Abinadar this week
"we need you to urge him to let us go back to Canada, where we will be available for due process
"We're begging you, raise our case with him remind him he ran on a platform of anti-corruption
"Ask him to help us see our families again. President Abinader will know that his public
"prosecutor is currently appealing to reverse our bail. This could send us back to jail for
"the next 10 months, even though we have not been charged and there is no evidence against us
"we have been here for over 60 days and have not been questioned, interviewed, or interrogated
"Mr. Prime Minister, if we go back to jail here, we know we may never come home..."
While much is being said about the crew, less is known about the passengers
Of the six passengers booked on the private charter flight, four are Canadian
one is Indian and one Dominican. It was chartered by a company in Canada's province of Alberta for
entertaining potential investors and their guests. Family for one passenger, Brittney Wojcik-Harrison
said she was returning to Canada from a vacation. In their GoFundMe campaign to help her, her family
says there is no evidence connecting her to the bags, that Brittney has no criminal record and
would never be involved in anything like this. In other words, Free Britney. Brittney was aboard the
jet that landed in the Dominican Republic on March 31st and was scheduled to fly back out to Canada
April 5th. It arrived in the Dominican flown by a different crew. According to the information from
court, prosecutors offered no evidence that any of those arrested had placed the bags on the plane
but authorities allege the trip itself was an excuse to smuggle the load. The pilot, according
to what was presented in court, said he and his first officer were in the cockpit preparing for
their flight when the mechanic told them of the mystery bag. He had taken a photo of it and showed
them. The pilot informed airline officials in Canada who reported it to the authorities
When police arrived, the pilot met the officers on the airport tarmac and showed them where the bag
was found. Their sniffer dog helped them ferret out the rest of the bags. Whoever hid the bags
in the plane must be part of a transnational criminal organization — not only does the load
represent a considerable investment, it had to have already crossed international borders to get there
Coke is produced in South America but often travels through Caribbean countries
where tourism is big business. Planes and boats arriving in the United States and Canada from
a tourist hotspot might attract less scrutiny than one coming directly from Colombia, which is
so well known for its illicit exports. So there will be a South American connection as a source
and also a Canadian connection for retrieval. After all, someone was prepared to secretly unload the
bags had they landed in Canada. Aviation experts say this crew seems to have followed all local
and international laws and regulations. In other words, they did the right thing. In what seems
the obvious version of events, the crew might be hailed as heroes. It isn't only about them
corralling a huge low destined for Canada. The airline says they likely averted an air disaster;
so many bags crammed into such a small sensitive spot could have sparked an electrical fire or the
unexpected additional weight could have brought the plane down. "Together our aircrew has more than
"80 years of experience. We know that we did the right thing reporting these drugs. We stopped drugs
from entering Canada and prevented a likely air disaster." But it is often said that no good deed
goes unpunished. This Pivot crew must surely feel that way. This case conjures memories for me of a
spectacular incident also involving a private jet — at the same airport, in fact, this one back in 2013
That jet was found to be stuffed with 26 suitcases carrying 280 kilos. Four french citizens were
arrested then, two passengers and the plane's two pilots. The French pilots denied knowing what
was in the suitcases. After 15 months of jail on the Dominican, they were freed pending an appeal
and, apparently not trusting the local justice system, fled the country by boat
They were re-arrested when they reached their homeland and did face trial there
They were both former military pilots with good records — they flew nuclear weapons before
moving to civilian flights. They were finally acquitted by a French court just last year
The two managers of the airline, however, were convicted. Both incidents are more
of that continuous cat-and-mouse game that is constantly underway in the global underworld
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