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August 19, 2015 - A Dominican Republic court
(tribunal) has sentenced two French pilots,
Captain Pascal Fauret and Copilot Bruno Odos to
20 years in prison for drug smuggling. The
pilots professed throughout the trial that they
were innocent, Fauret said, “I had no knowledge
of what was in the passengers’ luggage. I was
only doing my job. I’m innocent.”
Back in March 2013, the pilots, Fauret and Odos
were preparing their aircraft for takeoff from
Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic for La
Môle airport in the
Côte d'Azur
(French Riviera) with two passengers onboard,
when by the Dominican Republic National
Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) stormed the
French built Dassault Falcon 50 (F-GXMC), a
super mid-sized, long-range corporate jet.
Onboard the aircraft were 26 suitcases
containing 1,500 pounds of cocaine. The two
pilots and two French passengers Alain Castany
who is a pilot and Nicolas Pisapia who is an
investor were arrested and jailed. Pisapia
claimed at trial the bags were not his and that
he only had one carry-on bag. He further stated
he had traveled to Punta Cana to meet investors
who wanted to invest in
Romania
and Europe.
The street value of the cocaine was estimated to
be worth $26 million. The two passengers onboard
the corporate jet were also given 20 years. The
news media referred this case as "Air Cocaine".
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