Search for mafia connections on illegal flights

SANTO DOMINGO. The pilot and co-pilot of the Piper N-43RA that was held on Tuesday at the Cibao International Airport are part of an international network of human traffickers. They transport undocumented persons according to revelations released by the District Attorney for Santiago, Yenny Berenice Reynoso. The DA said that her office is dealing with a powerful gang that has been carrying out illegal flights for several years to and from the Dominican Republic.

Besides Kennett Courdero Whymns and Marvin Dennis Cabral, the pilot and co-pilot of the plane that is being held in the Cibao Airport, there were 5 passengers who had paid between US$15,000 and US$20,000 each.

The seven persons are currently being detained in the holding cells of the Palace of Justice in Santiago, there on Thursday the coercive measures will be decided.

Migration steps aside

Meanwhile, the director general of Migration, Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez, said yesterday that in the operations of arrival and takeoff of airplanes in the Dominican Republic, his department has no role, since this is the responsibility of the IDAC-the Dominican Civil Aeronautical Institute.

He said that in the events that happened in the airports of Santiago, El Higuero and El Portillo, there is no important role for the Migration Department, since airport security is the responsibility of the Specialized Corps of Airport Security (CESA), and the air operations belong to IDAC. Nonetheless, he argued for all of the state's organizations to get together to guarantee the security of the airports.

Papers in order

In the preliminary investigations, it has been possible to establish that the pilot correctly presented the "general declaration", as well as the passports and the letter of permission to work in the Bahamas, but the operation did not come about because the aircraft did not have a license to carry out commercial flights.

The five persons that would have travelled as passengers and were arrested, intended to arrive in the Bahamas and then go on to the United States.

Trying to fly from the International Airport of the Cibao were Glennys Aquino Rosado, Diogenes Arsenio Aracena, Felipe Paula Amparo, Manuel de Jesus Gomez and Cristino Ferreras Rivas, residents in Castillo, San Francisco de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, Cotui and La Descubierta.

Besides having their valid passports, the five passengers showed local Migration inspectors, a "Permit to Engage in Gainful Occupation" signed by the Bahamian immigration authorities. "If they had their valid passports and their visas or work permits from the Bahamas, the Migration inspectors had no motive to stop the departure of these persons" commented Pared Perez.

The Armed Forces will meet with IDAC

The Minister of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Pedro Rafael Peña Antonio, said yesterday that next week he would meet with the authorities of the IDAC in order to talk about the issue of the illegal flights and to see about strengthening the national air space. The military chief reported that in a month a provisional radar would be installed at the San Isidro Air Base, previous to the installation of the radar system that will be acquired at a cost of US$34.5million. He said that the Super Tucanos have already reduced the number of illegal flights.