Different countries deal with smugglers in different ways
This is how the Colombian air force sometimes handles it
At least when corrupt officials don't just wave the narcos right on through
because both responses are real and both are a big part of this story
An alleged Mexican narco was extradited to the United States from Canada, accused of a smuggling
network that bribed air traffic controllers in Colombia to ignore their private planes shuttling
kilos out of the country. Things were running smoothly — until they weren't, and it ended like this
The Mob Reporter here with a story of clandestine airstrips
corruption, snitches, and the ups and downs of a narco gang that had friends in high places
Some of whom now face trial in Los Angeles. Let me tell you about it
Miguel Hadad Facusseh, 37, was extradited from Vancouver in Canada and faces federal charges
in the United States. Secret documents were filed this week in his case in the United States
and sealed by the judge. That usually signals evidence involving snitches or undercover agents
I wish I had a photo of Hadad to show you. I bet he looks a bit wild because he has two
nicknames in Spanish: “El Greñas, which is usually a reference to a mop of messy hair
and “El Barbas,” which means The Beard. What must a guy known variously as The Mop and The Beard look
like? If he was an Italian mobster I'd actually expect him to be bald and clean-shaven, but
he isn't, he's Mexican, despite him being arrested in Canada. Hadad is accused of being a big part of a
group moving tens of millions of dollars worth of Colombia's leading underworld export to Mexico, to
then be shipped into the United States. The key to their operation, prosecutors say, was clandestine
airstrips carved out of the jungles and bribing air traffic controllers and police officials to
look the other way whenever their plane appeared on radar. Authorities aren't sure how long they've
been doing it, but they know a lot about one of their trips, one that went down in flames, literally
In late 2017, a shipment was being arranged and the U.S. DEA, or someone, was apparently listening
in every step of the way, as they use coded language to make their plans. The alleged boss
was Jaison Davila Amador and Hadad was his man in Mexico, according to the federal indictment
Coordinating and financing flights, supplying pilots, and setting up clandestine airstrips
There were more than a dozen others with them. One was an air traffic controller
who was secretly on their payroll, and two were retired officers for the Colombian
national police, who apparently had influence with the air force and local authorities
In October, authorities say, they mapped out the purchase of the product in Colombia, arranged
for a plane in Mexico to get it, constructing a clandestine airstrip that had been cleared near
a ranch near Santa Marta, Colombia and aviation fuel for refueling was purchased and stored nearby
This is in Colombia's north, facing the Caribbean Sea. It's a lovely area. Police agents secretly
listened in as the air traffic controller rearranged work schedules to make sure friendly
controllers were on duty when the plane was expected to sneak in, load up, and sneak back out
On October 25, the date of the planned mission, bad weather in Mexico meant the
plane couldn't take off as expected. The mission was scrubbed, the air traffic
controller needed to juggle shifts again, which required more bribes, authorities say
Two days later, on the rescheduled date, a political summit in Mexico meant another delay
presumably because of increased security in the area. A new date was chosen: November 5.
The network was activated again. One guy brought a tractor to the Colombian airstrip to help with
loading, another brought fuel to the landing strip. The paid-off air traffic controllers
were scheduled to work, and their friends with the military and police were alerted. The night before
a weather report from the airstrips in both countries gave two thumbs up — it was all systems go
On November 5, the plane left Mexico on schedule. About 515 kilograms of packaged product
— that's about 1,135 pounds — was hauled out to the airstrip and everyone waited for the plane
But suddenly, there came a frantic message: Abort, abort, the authorities were onto them
The plane couldn't be aborted in time, it was too close to Colombian airspace
It was intercepted by the Colombian air force and forced to the ground near Barranquilla
Then the air force shot the crap out of it. This is raw footage of the interception
The guys waiting at the airstrip were told to scramble out of there
They hid at the nearby estate of the father of one of the conspirators
Soon police were swarming over the bricks at the airstrip. Here's what they found, all laid out
Miraculously, the two pilots managed to escape before the shooting started
Davila, the alleged boss, told his right-hand man to find a place for the pilots to hide
but not to tell any other member of the group where they were
He smelled a rat. Two days later, the boss called a meeting for everyone in Santa Marta to discuss
what went wrong. Now, whatever happened at that meeting Hadad was apparently cleared by Davila
On November 24, he arrived in Colombia on a commercial flight to arrange for his pilots
to escape back to Mexico, but he was stopped at the border because he was carrying too much cash
Still, members of the network weren't arrested in Colombia until two years later, in September 2019
Hadad was arrested even later, last year in Vancouver on Canada's west coast. The issue
of clandestine airstrips is a constant problem in South and Central America
Police and armed forces of several countries regularly spot them during their patrols
and move in to blow holes in the runways to make them inoperable, at least without a lot of repairs
Here is operational footage of airstrips being destroyed in several countries, including Brazil
Right now, I don't know what brought Hadad to Canada, or what he was doing there but I
know where he is now. He joins three co-accused in the plot who were arrested in Colombia and
extradited to Los Angeles. They include two brothers Rafael and Enrique Noguera
The arrest and extradition of the Noguera brothers sparked a scandal in their homeland
because their cousin was head of the Colombian government's criminal financing directorate — that's
the agency coordinating property forfeiture and money laundering investigations. Although there are
no allegations she had any involvement at all, she resigned as the director a few months ago
at the request of the ministry. All four of the accused in Los Angeles have pleaded not guilty
Thanks for watching