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Once more, the local Curaçao customs officials had to be summoned because our maintenance engineers had discovered approximately 20 packets of cocaine jammed down the toilet. It appeared the “coke” is what had prevented the toilet from being flushed. As I was to find out later, this contract would prove to be very enlightening as to the lengths some surreptitious groups will go to transport illicit drugs across borders. In early March 2004, Air Atlanta had transferred me and four colleagues from Argentina to Curaçao to commence a 10 week contract with Dutch Caribbean Airlines (DCA). Curaçao, part of the Netherlands Antilles or Dutch Caribbean, is located just off the north coast of South America, adjacent to Venezuela and Colombia. Curaçao is the largest of three islands within the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and Bonaire being the others. Like most Caribbean Islands, Curaçao is blessed with azure waters, year round sunshine and stunning natural scenery. For many years now, the Caribbean region has served as a conduit for 30 percent of the cocaine destined for the United States and Europe. By and large, cocaine has been transported by small aircraft that depart South America and fly to remote ocean areas within the Caribbean. The aircraft conduct airdrops to waiting high-speed boats that retrieve the drugs and move them ashore. At one time, authorities believed that traffickers shipped 90 percent of unprocessed cocaine directly to and from Colombia via small civil aviation aircraft. When possible, local airlines have been used as the timeliest and most cost effective means of shipping cocaine to and from Latin America, and as I found out, in some cases internationally. The Netherlands Antilles are ideally located as a jumping off point. The islands are only 30 nautical miles off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia. Unfortunately for the Caribbean nations, the popularity of the islands for tourism has proved to be a perfect cover for the illicit drug trade... Since the early 1990s, the United States has been supporting anti-drug operations in Latin America. Within the last few years, the US Government has negotiated long-term agreements for the use of facilities in the Netherlands Antilles, Ecuador, and El Salvador. These locations provide the US and coalition military with an effective means of conducting surveillance and the interdiction of air shipment of cocaine. In Curaçao, the US Air Force and the US Air National Guard operate daily surveillance flights and coastal patrols in conjunction with the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force) and the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Marines). During our
down time in Curaçao, it was routine to see US and Dutch P3 Orion
aircraft, extensively modified with high tech sensing and surveillance
equipment, and naval frigates manoeuvring up and down the coastline. On
one particularly memorable occasion, right in front of our beachfront hotel,
we witnessed a Koninklijke Marine frigate intercept and board a fishing
boat steaming towards Venezuela, while an Orion monitored the action from
overhead. As the scene unfolded, the frigate dispatched several small high
speed pursuit boats with what appeared to be a crew of armed marine commandos
to intercept the fleeing fishing vessel. As the small fishing vessel motored
towards the Venezuelan coastline, the pursuit boats pulled alongside and
the “commandos” boarded the boat. After what seemed like an inordinately
long time, the fishing vessel was turned back to the Port of Willemstad,
with the Koninklijke frigate escorting in close proximity. Although, we
never discovered exactly what was found on the fishing vessel, we surmised
that suspicion of drugs or some other linked illegal activity was the reason.
We knew that the military has powers to intercept any suspicious boat for
just cause or suspected illegal activity. And we were living in an area
that is known to be a conduit for drug shipments to ports afar. In addition,
local and international news are regularly reporting that drug money and
terrorism are inextricably linked.
Despite reports that international governments are winning the “war on drugs”, the drug traffickers have an instinctive ability to exploit the inadequate security and law enforcement that exist within this region. Case in point: a few hours to the south of Curaçao, Brazil’s vast and largely uncontrolled western Amazon Region provides an ideal environment for drug trafficking aircraft. Clandestine airstrips are typically located in largely inaccessible areas of Brazil, which makes it difficult to fight the problem. In years past, the traffickers developed an “air bridge” by coercing some air-taxi companies and aircraft owners interested in the profits available through drug transportation. However, Brazilian police (DPF) have stepped up efforts against the cocaine transportation infrastructure by implementing a program that tracks aviation fuel sales. If there is an irregularity in the sale of fuel, this will show up under the program and it allows the DPF to search and detain aircraft for “probable cause.” It has been suggested if neighboring countries were to implement similar programs, this would put considerable pressure on traffickers who would have decreasing sources for aviation fuel. Unfortunately, it does not provide the final answer to the problem. This brings
us back to our forward lavatory obstruction. You are probably still wondering
how 20 packets of cocaine ended up jammed down the toilet. Well it is simple
really, but not something that readily comes to mind. In recent times,
drug traffickers have resorted to using people more and more as an alternate
means of transporting cocaine. The traffickers pay individuals, or “drug
mules”, to transport their product to a particular destination. Immediately
prior to their assigned flight, the “mules” swallow cocaine packed in Teflon
coated condoms or sausages. The sausages of cocaine are about the size
of your index finger. Now think about this carefully. The flight from Curaçao
is approximately 9-10 hours from pushback to shutdown. If you include the
time the passenger takes to check-in and collect his bags at the other
end, then his journey can easily exceed 12 hours. Consequently, at some
point during a 9-10 hour flight, nature takes its course and the material
has to come out the other end. If they have time, the “mules” wash the
contraband and re-swallow it, hoping not to be nabbed by customs at their
destination. In the case of our malfunctioning lavatory, one of the “mules”
must have lost his nerve or decided he did not have enough time to re-swallow
the smuggled goods. Rather than get caught, he flushed the goods down the
toilet. One of the Dutch customs officers told me later that each of those
sausages of cocaine is worth about €5,000 – 6,000 (euros) or about
US$6,000 – 7,000. So doing some quick math, the 20 that were flushed were
worth between €100,000 – 120,000 or US$120,000 – 140,000. As a result
of this obstruction, the entire forward lavatory and flush mechanism had
to be dismantled and replaced at a cost of about US$25,000.
Over the course of this contract, we had a number of cocaine related problems. In one incident, our aircraft maintenance engineers discovered cocaine in the water drain pipes beneath the lavatory sinks. In another, “coke” was discovered in the aircraft ceilings and above the main entrance doors. In a further
episode, Peter, one of our aircraft maintenance engineers had been approached
by a local in a crowded Curaçao pub. The local “warned” Peter that
“they” had been watching him and that “they” knew the engineers were finding
“hidden coke” onboard our aircraft. The local went onto say that the “hidden
coke” should be turned over to certain Curaçao customs officials
or specific airport authorities. Peter later related the story to us, over
numerous beers, and said all he could think about was the movie “Clear
and Present Danger”, the drug cartels and the “Hells Angels!” The engineers
often told us, that during their daily routine, they would see suspicious
activities in remote areas of the airport – money changing hands and individuals
coming and going where you would not expect to see them. Although, Peter
was never physically threatened with harm, it made us wonder how closely
we were being watched. We eventually had a good laugh about this incident
and figured we should audition for the next episode of Mission Impossible
or write to Tom Clancy and ask him what he would do.
Unfortunately, the authorities are virtually powerless to eliminate this problem. At the most, all they can do is slow it down. Where there is a will there is a way. Drug traffickers have shown considerable skill in adjusting their operations in response to counter drug efforts. The traffickers will change the place of production, transport routes, points of shipment, and markets when eradication or interdiction programs achieve success. And when the airlines are not available, the drug traffickers will find some other means of transportation. Although, I did not expect my life as an expat airline pilot to be coloured with this experience, it makes you realize that no matter how isolated you are in this world, the “war on drugs” and the “war on terror” is something that is hard to ignore. At the very least this experience makes for very interesting flying. And that is, yet, another chapter in my continuing adventures with Air Atlanta Icelandic. For a wandering ex-pat pilot like me, it doesn’t get much more exciting than that. The following are the previous articles that Steve wrote for the magazine:
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