FO Found Not Guilty On BUE-BCN Drugs Run — Tech Ops Forum

Sponsor Message:


My Starred Topics \| Profile \| New Topic \| Forum Index \| Help \| Search

FO Found Not Guilty On BUE-BCN Drugs Run

AR385 From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 4839 posts, RR: 28
Posted (4 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1047 times:

Support Airliners.net - become a First Class Member!

I read this today:

http://www.clarin.com/politica/Narco...os-hermanos-Julia_0_842915830.html

Essentially, on 2011 a "Bombardier Jet" flew from Morón (Buenos Aires) to BCN with 944.5 kg of cocaine at 83% purity on board. The plane stopped for refueling at Cabo Verde.

Here´s my question. The FO was found not guilty saying he knew nothing about the actual shipment. There was only one passenger on board. Assuming the newspiece is correct, can an FO of say a CL-600 or a Global Express actually be kept on the dark about a ton of extra weight on such a long routing? And if he notices, Can he actually accept and believe that "yeah, don´t worry about that extra ton, It´s just some fuel left over," or some such excuse?

MGGS

4 replies: All unread, jump to last

Starlionblue From Hong Kong, joined Feb 2004, 15868 posts, RR: 66
Reply 1, posted (4 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1040 times:

Quoting AR385 (Thread starter):
can an FO of say a CL-600 or a Global Express actually be kept on the dark about a ton of extra weight on such a long routing?

You're assuming it was an "extra" ton. It might have been a ton of cocaine that was labeled something else. A crate is a crate from the outside. The article says the drugs were hidden in a sofa among other things. Those items would simply have been weighed with the drugs inside.

Quoting AR385 (Thread starter):
Can he actually accept and believe that "yeah, don´t worry about that extra ton, It´s just some fuel left over," or some such excuse?

No way. A ton is a lot in a plane that size.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - from Citadel by John Ringo

rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 6140 posts, RR: 25
Reply 2, posted (4 months 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 1012 times:

Quoting AR385 (Thread starter):
Assuming the newspiece is correct, can an FO of say a CL-600 or a Global Express actually be kept on the dark about a ton of extra weight on such a long routing?

It is not unusual for customers on private jets to not tell/ allow the crew to know what they are carrying. And there are private jet operators who specialize in that type traffic. (There are also private jet operators who refuse such type traffic.)

Using a Challenger or Global Express to move a sofa would be unusual, but not unheard of.

Or was the drugs supposedly concealed in the normal aircraft sofa.

Of course the real question is did the captain do the weight and balance and know about what was the extra weight?

If the captain did the weight and balance numbers, the FO could easily have been unaware.

AR385 From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 4839 posts, RR: 28
Reply 3, posted (4 months 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 994 times:

Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 2):
It is not unusual for customers on private jets to not tell/ allow the crew to know what they are carrying. And there are private jet operators who specialize in that type traffic. (There are also private jet operators who refuse such type traffic.)

The Captain and passenger were the owners and operators of the aircraft. They were brothers. The FO was an employee.

The sofa was put instead of two normal seats, as standard on board equipment.

The drugs were in the sofa, and behind a "fake circuit panel"

MGGS

rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 6140 posts, RR: 25
Reply 4, posted (4 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 971 times:

Okay, you've answered the question yourself.

The only thing the FO might find unusual was that the 'empty weight' of the aircraft was a bit higher than other similar aircraft. Even that would not be a red flag. Every aircraft empty weight varies. Some Challengers are easily a ton heavier than others, depending upon the equipment installed, the level of customization.

Top Of Page

Forum Index

Reply To This Topic FO Found Not Guilty On BUE-BCN Drugs Run

Username:	No username? Sign up now!
Password:	Forgot Password? Be reminded. Remember me on this computer (uses cookies)

Tech/Ops related posts only!
Not Tech/Ops related? Use the other forums
No adverts of any kind. This includes web pages.
No hostile language or criticizing of others.
Do not post copyright protected material.
Use relevant and describing topics.
Check if your post already been discussed.
Check your spelling!
DETAILED RULES

Check Spelling

Please check your spelling (press "Check Spelling" above)

Similar topics: