Black Box A330 Crack Cocaine
Madeline Rinkenberger
In April 2022, Canadian charter airline Pivot Airlines was scheduled to operate a charter flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to Toronto, Canada. Just prior to departure, a master caution switch went off in the cockpit, causing the crew to do a more thorough inspection of the aircraft. During this time, the crew discovered black duffel bags in the maintenance bay of the aircraft.
They alerted authorities immediately, and as it turned out, the bags contained over 200kg of cocaine, with a street value of around $25 million. For reporting this, the entire crew was jailed in the Dominican Republic for nine days. Once released from jail, they had their passports confiscated, and were put on indefinite house arrest.
I hope Canada is taking this case seriously, and at least tries to bring charges against some of the people involved, from the guy who wired the money to pay for the charter, to the person at Signature Flight Support who was allegedly very concerned about the status of the flight, and said the plane would have to go in for maintenance upon arrival.
Over 200kg of cocaine was discovered on a charter flight from the Dominican Republic to Canada, leading to an airline crew being detained abroad for nearly eight months. I had assumed all along that they had nothing to do with it (after all, they reported it), and it seems certain that this is correct.
Drug gangs are so powerful and connected they can place associates into key roles in whichever enterprises are needed to assist with smuggling gigs. If a signature maintenance guy gets nailed and jailed he gets replaced like a light bulb and on with the show. Governments are powerless to put a stop to this stuff.
At first when listening to the two female passengers, I assumed they were all innocent like the crew. Then in the film it stated that all the passengers on the second flight knew each other and the one was part of the fake Trust real estate company who paid for their flight. They were mules, knowingly and I bet they will be spending many years in jail. I mean someone pays for your tickets on...
At first when listening to the two female passengers, I assumed they were all innocent like the crew. Then in the film it stated that all the passengers on the second flight knew each other and the one was part of the fake Trust real estate company who paid for their flight. They were mules, knowingly and I bet they will be spending many years in jail. I mean someone pays for your tickets on a expensive charter flight and when asked about it, you state your lawyer tells you to not comment. All those passengers on that 2nd flight probably guilty.
I thought this was an excellent investigative reporting. The interview with the two female passengers hit a red flag for me . When ask if they thought that they may be drug mules both denied it then one of the females says maybe the plane was a drug mule or it was being used as a mule . The other female then says Well its obvious the plane was because they found the drugs on the plane . Red flag for me
Thank you for posting the link to the television show. I watched the program and appreciated the quality of the reporting. I have been following Canadian stories more and learned about the ability of the Dominican Republic to hold someone with no charges for a year. It is something I will keep in mind in my travels.
Ben,
If the crew needed to stay there for 8 months and were not in jail and could not leave the island - I assume they stayed at a hotel? AirBnB? where? Did they get points? Did they get upgraded to suites? These are the details that we expect from your site :)
We had numerous seizures out of the DR/Jamaica/Curacao amongst other locations. Of course Corporate Security involved - in none of the cases was the crew found to be involved - most times they were completely unaware as this occurred below wing on the ground.
The Canadian crew were scape goats until the the whole mess was swept up (bribes?) and the actors were far in the wind. Probably there are now no witnesses and the evidence is missing. Nobody will be further accused. Business as usual. Sadly for the crew this is a stain that might resurface because proving innocence is more difficult than proving guilt. Just my take.
The article says that there were four passengers who had faced criminal charges. We do not know if they were ever convicted. Secondly, people who have actual criminal records fly every day, all over the world.
If Ben's surmise is right (which I think it probably is) there's nothing Pivot Airlines did that was peciliar to their Canadian nationality. An American charter company could just as easily have accepted money for a charter and flown to Punta Cana. What the Dominican "justice" system did to this flight crew was unconscionable. But the fact that the Doninican government didn't cave to Canadian consular pressure? That is a very Canadian story.
Seems illegal drugs and real estate are linked. Maybe if everyone would boycott illegal drugs they might find housing become more affordable as it is no longer being used as a laundering vehicle. Do less drugs, live inside.
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PITTSBURGH, PA - A former resident of McKeesport, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating federal narcotics and firearm laws, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
Raymar McKenzie pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan. Specifically, McKenzie pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and crack, in addition to possession of a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking crime.
In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that between August and September 2020, the Allegheny County Police Department (ACPD) conducted three controlled buy operations from defendant Raymar McKenzie. During each controlled buy, a third party called McKenzie from his known cellular phone number and purchased cocaine base. Following each controlled buy, McKenzie returned to a McKeesport residence in his black pickup truck. As a result, law enforcement applied for and obtained search warrants for the residence, McKenzie, and his vehicle.
On Sept. 18, 2020, law enforcement executed the search warrants. Law enforcement detained McKenzie during the search, and he was found in possession of $1,680.00. From an upstairs bedroom, officers located a cellular phone on a bed. Upon calling the number used to contact McKenzie during the controlled buy operations, the phone rang. A sweatshirt on the floor of that bedroom contained packaged cocaine base and a pair of keys that opened the black pickup truck operated by the defendant during the controlled buy operations. Next to the sweatshirt, officers observed a safe. While opening the safe, McKenzie notified officers that the safe contained fentanyl.
Following a waiver of his rights, McKenzie admitted that everything in the house was his and described the contents of the safe as including crack, fentanyl, and a black Ruger. In addition to the packaged drugs and firearm, the safe held a loaded .40 caliber extended magazine and $3,000.00.
Judge Ranjan scheduled sentencing for June 26, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of $2,000,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
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