Pilot Sues Over Dominican Drug Ordeal

A pilot snared in an apparent drug smuggling scheme is suing the Canadian government and his former airline for $16 million. Rob DiVenanzo alleges government officials and police suspected their flight was being used to fly $25 million worth of cocaine to Canada from the Dominican Republic but failed to intervene. DiVenanzo, along with four other crew, were arrested and held for seven months by Dominican authorities in April of 2022 when members of the flight crew discovered bags containing almost 500 pounds of cocaine stuffed in the avionics bay of their Bombardier regional jet.

DiVenanzo claims the Canadian government and Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been investigating the smuggling operation for two months before he and his crew were dispatched to fly the jet back to Toronto. He said the government and police "knew or should have known" the crew was flying into a trap but failed to do anything about it. He also claims his former employer, Toronto-based Pivot, didn't vet the people who chartered the plane.

"I'm never going to be the same," DiVenanzo told CTV News. In the suit he said he has suffered "significant" physical, emotional and psychological harm in the ordeal. The plane was already in the Dominican Republic when DiVenanzo and the others were flown there to fly it back. Security video showed an airport vehicle pulling up to the plane in the early morning and men pushing bags into the avionics bay. When DiVenanzo was preparing for the flight, a warning light for the avionics bay door prompted an inspection.

Shortly after the crew reported the drugs to local authorities and the RCMP, they were arrested and put in a cell with more than 20 hardened criminals. They stayed in jail for nine days, enduring physical and verbal abuse from inmates trying to extort money from them. When they were released the local government refused to return their passports, and they spent the next seven months in a series of safe houses awaiting trial. When a CTV news crew showed up and began asking questions, their passports were returned and they returned to Canada.