Aircrew, Pax Detained in Dominican Republic to be Freed

The crew and passengers of a chartered flight to the Dominican Republic last April were detained when over 200 kilograms of cocaine were discovered on board during a pre-departure check by the aircrew.
Initially held in jail in what they described as ‘deplorable conditions’, the seven passengers and five crewmembers of the Toronto airport-based Pivot Airlines CRJ-100 were eventually freed on bail but were obliged to remain in the country before being freed on bail while local authorities tried to piece together a case. On Friday, November 11 it was announced that they will be freed.
One of the five-member crew was the aircraft’s mechanic, and it was he who found duffle bags containing the drugs in the jet’s avionics bay while checking the aircraft before departure back to Canada. The discovery was then immediately reported to local law enforcement officials who promptly arrested the crew and passengers. Video footage later surfaced that showed a third party in the vicinity of the aircraft while it was unattended at the country’s Punta Cana airport.