Flight crew and passengers busted when $25-million bags found

A strange underworld tale is unfolding with a flight crew from Canada and all seven passengers who were jailed after the crew stumbled across a mysterious bag hidden onboard a private jet in the Caribbean.

The Mob Reporter here with news of the dramatic situation for a pilot and his flight crew for doing the right thing, reporting bags hidden in their plane that turned out to be a transnational ring’s secret $25-million cargo. But rather than being hailed as heroes, they were thrown into prison while an investigation plods along.

It started during a maintenance check of a charter jet — this plane, owned by Pivot Airlines, a small Canadian charter airline — before departure from Punta Cana airport. The crew’s electrical mechanic opened a small door to the avionics bay, in the plane’s fuselage underneath the cockpit where he spotted a bag where no bag should be. The small bay is supposed to hold only wires and electronics. Not knowing what it was, but knowing it shouldn’t be there, the mechanic reported it to his captain, and Canada’s federal police and local Dominican police were alerted. When Dominican officers arrived at the airport, they pulled out eight Nike sports bag from the tight space; police say it is worth $25 million.