A pilot from Antigonish, N.S., wants more people to pay attention to what’s happening to his friends and colleagues who are detained in the Dominican Republic after millions of dollars worth of cocaine was found on their plane.
On April 5, the Pivot Airlines crew was thrown in jail after drugs were found in multiple duffel bags. Carl Falsnes knows some of the crew from working at a different airline. He’s close friends with Aatif Safdar, a pilot from Hamilton, Ont.
Pivot is a privately owned charter airline based in Toronto.
“I check our chat group and our feed every day wondering what is going on with these guys. Aatif has a young child, has a young wife,” Falsnes told CBC News.
The crew is out on bail. They released a video last week explaining their side of the story and asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help get them home.
Capt. Robert Di Venanzo said two months ago, the crew found suspected contraband on board its aircraft destined for Canada. They reported it to the RCMP and Dominican Republic authorities.
“The Dominicans threw us in jail,” Di Venanzo said.
‘We’ve been threatened with death,’ pilot says
“We’ve been threatened with death by narco criminals, extorted by inmates and have lived in inhumane and humiliating conditions. In prison a dead body was placed outside our cell, and we were told we would be next. We are living a nightmare.”
Di Venanzo said they could be sent back to jail at a moment’s notice.
“Mr. Prime Minister, we need your help. We did our job by reporting these drugs and saved Canadian lives. Now we need you to do yours,” he said.
WATCH | N.S. pilot fears for friends detained in Dominican Republic
N.S. pilot fears for friends detained in Dominican Republic
12 hours ago
Duration 2:51
In April, a crew from Pivot Airlines was thrown in jail after millions of dollars worth of cocaine was found on their plane. The crew are friends and colleagues of Antigonish, N.S., pilot Carl Falsnes. Falsnes said the case needs more attention in Canada.
Falsnes said he’s tried sending texts to the crew, but they haven’t been received. He said he’s not even sure they have their phones.
“I mean it’s quite incredible that a crew member that finds a problem can end up in a situation where your life is threatened to the point where you’re not even sure you’re going to make it out of there,” Falsnes said.
Falsnes said the situation isn’t getting enough attention. He’s concerned his friends won’t get justice in the Dominican Republic. Falsnes wants the federal government to intervene.
Federal government aware
During his visit to the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles last week, Prime Minister Trudeau met with the Dominican President Luis Abinader.
On his official website the prime minister says he “raised the case of the Canadian air crew in the Dominican Republic and received assurances that the authorities will address the matter according to the rule of law.”
Global Affairs Canada said it is also aware of the crew’s situation.
Bricks of cocaine were found on the plane. (National Drug Control Directorate)
“Canadian officials continue to monitor the situation closely, are engaging with local authorities, and providing consular assistance. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed,” read a statement from Charlotte MacLeod, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada.
In the meantime Falsnes is worried about his friend. The last time they spoke was four days before the flight. He said he was excited to be flying more. During the pandemic, Falsnes said Safdar made money by driving for Uber.
“I feel for these people. It’s so sad. You go to work, you do your job and you end up in jail,” he said.
KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are arguing a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year should face a lengthy sentence because of the attack’s lasting impact on campus safety and security.
Federal prosecutor Althea Francis says a sentence in the upper range is appropriate not only because Geovanny Villalba-Aleman wanted to send a message about his views but also because he sought to make those with different beliefs feel unsafe.
The Crown has said it is seeking a sentence of 16 years for Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.
The sentencing hearing for Villalba-Aleman began Monday and is expected to continue all week.
Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate a segment of the population.
Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.
A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.
In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to bring it to 3.75 per cent. Here’s what people are saying about the decision:
“High inflation and interest rates have been a heavy burden for Canadians. With inflation now back to target and interest rates continuing to come down, families, businesses and communities should feel some relief.” — Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor.
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“Activity in Canada’s housing market has been sluggish in many regions due to higher borrowing costs, but today’s more aggressive cut to lending rates could cause the tide to turn quickly. For those with variable rate mortgages – who will benefit from the rate drop immediately – or those with fast-approaching loan renewals, today’s announcement is welcome news indeed.” — Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.
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“This won’t be the end of rate cuts. Even with the succession of policy cuts since June, rates are still way too high given the state of the economy. To bring rates into better balance, we have another 150 bps in cuts pencilled in through 2025. So while the pace of cuts going forward is now highly uncertain, the direction for rates is firmly downwards.” — James Orlando, director and senior economist at TD Bank.
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“The size of the December rate cut will depend on upcoming job and inflation data, but a 25 basis point cut remains our baseline.” — Tu Nguyen, economist with assurance, tax and consultancy firm RSM Canada.
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“Today’s outsized rate cut is mostly a response to the heavy-duty decline in headline inflation in the past few months. However, the underlying forecast and the Bank’s mild tone suggest that the future default moves will be 25 bp steps, unless growth and/or inflation surprise again to the downside.” — Douglas Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
