Plane crash victims identified
Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO.-The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic announced that the four occupants of the small plane that crashed near the coast in Pedernales province have been identified.. The plane crashed last 21 September with a load of cocaine aboard.
The airplane, with a 9 passenger capacity, was piloted by Rodolfo Sanchez Quintero, 52.
The co-pilot was Hector Ivan Osorio Valek, 28, who was disfigured as a result of the impact with a tree. On board the plane was young Jairo Yasin Shaikh, 21, who was in the back of the plane and was the most easily identifiable of the group.
Also in the rear of the aircraft was Ricardo Lozano Tangarife, 47, an airplane mechanic. Investigators estimate that the airplane had a cargo capacity large enough to move 1000 kilograms of cocaine.
The plane crashed on a cliffside in the community of Ticafé, an inaccessible area where only mules and helicopters can go.
The airplane, a Cessna Caravan, is estimated to cost US$2.0 million on the market.
The authorities from the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) said that the crew brought a cargo of 91 kilos of cocaine. The bundles of cocaine were partially burned. The authorities from the Justice Department in Pedernales told the Attorney General that they were puzzled as to why the drugs were found three kilometers from the crash site.
The drugs were taken to the town of Canos from Ticafé where the plane went down.
The report details how, when the prosecutors reached the crash site, the drugs were no longer in the plane, but the bodies were only recovered two days later.
The bodies were moved to Canoa by helicopter, since there is no other way in or out. One of the victims had a whistle around his neck and another had a glove on his hand.
Accident investigators found that three fuel cans had been tied to the seats and there was a system whereby fuel could be moved into the plane's tanks during flight. At the same time, it was established that the pilot had come to the Dominican Republic several times carrying large quantities o drugs. The authorities added that the plane had been modified to carry large amounts o drugs.
A lawyer came from Bogotá, Colombia to claim the bodies so his fellow countrymen. Fernando Cardoso Gomez was hired by the victims' families to reclaim the bodies. He petitioned the Attorney General and showed his powers of attorney for this job.
The lawyer also brought dental records, birth certificates and photographs that allowed the National Forensic Science Institute and the National Institute of Forensic Pathology to identify the bodies of the three that were burned beyond recognition. Just yesterday the bodies were handed over to the Blandino Funeral Home for preparation for the trip home to Colombia. The DNCD found 97 kilograms of cocaine near the crash, some of which was burned.
The airplane, with a 9 passenger capacity, was piloted by Rodolfo Sanchez Quintero, 52.
The co-pilot was Hector Ivan Osorio Valek, 28, who was disfigured as a result of the impact with a tree. On board the plane was young Jairo Yasin Shaikh, 21, who was in the back of the plane and was the most easily identifiable of the group.
Also in the rear of the aircraft was Ricardo Lozano Tangarife, 47, an airplane mechanic. Investigators estimate that the airplane had a cargo capacity large enough to move 1000 kilograms of cocaine.
The plane crashed on a cliffside in the community of Ticafé, an inaccessible area where only mules and helicopters can go.
The airplane, a Cessna Caravan, is estimated to cost US$2.0 million on the market.
The authorities from the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) said that the crew brought a cargo of 91 kilos of cocaine. The bundles of cocaine were partially burned. The authorities from the Justice Department in Pedernales told the Attorney General that they were puzzled as to why the drugs were found three kilometers from the crash site.
The drugs were taken to the town of Canos from Ticafé where the plane went down.
The report details how, when the prosecutors reached the crash site, the drugs were no longer in the plane, but the bodies were only recovered two days later.
The bodies were moved to Canoa by helicopter, since there is no other way in or out. One of the victims had a whistle around his neck and another had a glove on his hand.
Accident investigators found that three fuel cans had been tied to the seats and there was a system whereby fuel could be moved into the plane's tanks during flight. At the same time, it was established that the pilot had come to the Dominican Republic several times carrying large quantities o drugs. The authorities added that the plane had been modified to carry large amounts o drugs.
A lawyer came from Bogotá, Colombia to claim the bodies so his fellow countrymen. Fernando Cardoso Gomez was hired by the victims' families to reclaim the bodies. He petitioned the Attorney General and showed his powers of attorney for this job.
The lawyer also brought dental records, birth certificates and photographs that allowed the National Forensic Science Institute and the National Institute of Forensic Pathology to identify the bodies of the three that were burned beyond recognition. Just yesterday the bodies were handed over to the Blandino Funeral Home for preparation for the trip home to Colombia. The DNCD found 97 kilograms of cocaine near the crash, some of which was burned.
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