Ruminations: Planning to Holiday in Costa Rica? Beware!

"The greatest fear is not to come back alive. I'm hoping for this nightmare to end as soon as possible."
"[It was] very shocking [last week to be confronted by the prison inmate boss at the public prosecutor's office waiting room]."
Pivot Airlines Flight Attendant Alex Rozov

"We have no doubt that this deliberate and staged act of intimidation was a direct and implicit threat against our crew."
"The obvious concern for the crew members is they can't verify that the contents [of the contraband bags carried off then returned by police] that were returned were the same as when they left."
Pivot Airlines CEO Eric Edmondson

The crew of Pivot Airlines was detained in the Dominican Republic in April after millions of dollars worth of cocaine was found aboard their plane. The crew posted a video pleading with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help them. (Unifor/YouTube)

Costa Rica is a popular island resort destination for many Canadians. So popular that almost a million vacationers leave Canada annually to visit the country. In the face of reports detailing widespread corruption and human rights abuses rife within its legal and corrections systems. But a country known for its pristine beaches and resorts that lure visitors and create tourism wealth for the destination, usually treats those tourists with kid gloves.

Which makes it rather strange that a professional Canadian flight crew and its passengers attached to a small Canadian airline have had an involuntary extended stay in the country with a number of court dates following incarceration on charges of drug smuggling. The chartered plane was scheduled to fly out of the Punta Cana resort town on April 5 with seven passengers, potential investors and their guests entertained by an Alberta company when it was detained.

One of the bags in the CRJ-100's avionics bay was discovered by a Pivot mechanic who thought it might be a bomb. It was in fact, found to contain a suspect substance. Leading the airline to take steps immediately alerting the RCMP as well as Dominican Republic authorities. Local drug police investigating discovered yet another seven bags with prohibited drugs. Which led them to take the Canadian crew and passengers into custody.

They were imprisoned for nine days in crowded conditions and while there an individual who portrayed himself as an incarcerant 'boss' threatened the crew members. The prisoner 'boss' made it clear that unless money was wired to local inmates the crew members would be met with violence. To emphasize the serious nature of their demand, at one point a corpse was placed in front of the prison cell. And then the Pivot Airlines crew was released on bail.

The sinister drama, however, was not yet over. Bail conditions included regular check-ins at the courthouse while an investigation was proceeding. And it was at one of those courthouse check-ins that the same prison inmate boss approached them again. "Pilot, I'll be seeing you very soon", one of the
Canadians was told, while waiting in the prosecutor's office.

Another appeal hearing is scheduled to be held where prosecutors plan to pursue the argument the Canadians should be denied bail and returned to the prison cell. The Canadians' passports are being withheld, they were confiscated when police reported the bags had contained 210 kilograms of cocaine. The airline owners have been in contact with consular officials from Canada; given the situation they are questioning the security of Canadians travelling to the Dominican Republic.

Awaiting Canada's Department of External Affairs and the Canadian government's responses with Dominican counterparts there is no word yet whether any concrete steps have been taken for the release of the Canadians who have been unwilling guests of the justice system in Costa Rica for three months. "The problem", said Pivot's CEO "is that there doesn't seem to be action. They don't seem to be doing anything."

The Pivot captain, Rob DiVenanzo, described in an interview the inmate making constant violent threats through his mobile phone's translation app; even holding the Canadians by force of threat to the toilet area of the tiny cell for three days where they were deprived of food and water. When the judge, after nine days in the prison freed them on bail, he cited a lack of evidence that they were involved in the storage of the bags of illicit drugs.