Brittney Wojcik-Harrison is one of six passengers and five crew members on a Pivot Airlines flight to Toronto on a chartered jet from Punta Cana on April 5. Photo by GoFundMe
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A Calgary photographer was jailed for several days in the Dominican Republic after a flight crew found and reported a bag containing hundreds of pounds of cocaine hidden on the plane with which she was about to fly home.
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Brittney Wojcik-Harrison is one of six passengers and five Pivot Airlines crew members who flew to Toronto by chartered aircraft from Punta Cana on April 5. Prior to take-off, a flight crew engineer alerted authorities in Canada and the Dominican Republic. found a bag secreted into the plane’s electronic systems bay. Authorities later found that the bag and seven other items stored on the plane contained more than 200 kilograms of cocaine, valued at about $ 25 million. All 11 were jailed after the discovery, some along with accused drug traffickers in community cells. They were later released on $ 23,000 bail – a decision now being challenged by Dominican prosecutors – but are required to remain in the country as local authorities continue their investigation, which Pivot says could take up to a year.
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The airline has hired an international security company to protect its passengers and staff while they are in the Dominican Republic as the crew has received credible death threats from unknown sources. “Either she will be trapped in a foreign country for a year, or she will be trapped in a prison in a foreign country for a year and that makes me sick to my stomach,” said Brandon Harrison, Wojciech-Harrison’s cousin. Postmedia on Friday. The plane where the drugs were found. Photo: NATIONAL DIRECTIONS OF DRUG CONTROL / Twitter He said Wojcik-Harrison was on holiday in Punta Cana when she was arrested and detained by Dominican officials and the family has received little information from the Canadian government about her condition. “They can not and will not give us any details,” Harrison said. “We do not really know what’s going on with Brittney.”
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In an e-mailed statement, Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of the Pivot Airlines incident in the Dominican Republic, but declined to give any important details about its response, saying: “Canadian officials are closely monitoring the situation. cooperate with local authorities and provide consular assistance. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed. “ In a statement Friday, Pivot said the Canadian government needs to do more to get passengers and crew home safely, especially with prosecutors failing to provide evidence linking them to cocaine. Eight black exercise bags, each containing 25 smaller packages of cocaine, for a total of 200 packs, were found in the aircraft control rooms. Photo: NATIONAL DIRECTIONS OF DRUG CONTROL / Twitter “While we are grateful for the support of the Government of Canada in improving the safety of our crew to date, the simple fact is that not enough has been done to safely return our crew to Canada,” Pivot said.
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“They miss their families. They are afraid for (their) life, as well as for their mental and physical well-being. And they want to come home. “ Harrison also believes the government should do more for his cousin and others trapped in the Dominican Republic with her. He urges Canadians to contact their local member of parliament to press the government to take action. “There are only so many family members who can do this,” he said. The Wojcik-Harrison family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for legal aid, food and a flight to bring her home if possible. – With archives from Tom Blackwell, National Post [email protected] Twitter: @michaelrdrguez
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