drugs, terrorists and g-men: that special quality of the Florida aviation industry

From the MadCowMorningNews:

 

" ... A pilot accused of owning the Gulfstream business jet (N987SA) which broke in two and crash-landed in the Mexican Yucatan carrying nearly 4 tons of cocaine has pointed a finger at a notorious convicted drug smuggler as the true owner of the drug-running airplane, the MadCowMorningNews can report exclusively.  

Don Whittington, whose  WORLD JET INC at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport was widely reported to have been deeply involved in CIA rendition flights, provided $2 million in cash to purchase the Gulfstream business jet, according to Greg Smith, one of two pilots in Fort Lauderdale Florida who have been accused of owning the plane.

The claim is the only discernible movement in the case to date.

“Who owned drug plane that crashed in Mexico?” asked the headline of Jay Root and Kevin Hall’s September 27, 2007 story in the McClatchy Newspapers, the first U.S. report of the incident.  

The question has been met with stony silence by U.S. authorities, and remains unanswered, marking the second time in the past 18 months an American-registered aircraft carrying a multi-ton load of cocaine has been interdicted in Mexico... with no subsequent action taken by U.S. authorities against the American owners of the drug-running aircraft.

The war on drugs is a war on some drugs.

While more than three weeks has elapsed since the American-registered airplane’s  crash-landing, there has still been no official word on indictments, arrests, or even a determination from aviation officials of who exactly owned the plane that crashed in a field 45 kilometers outside Merida International Airport shortly after dawn on September 25^th. 

A list of questions sent last week to the FAA's media contact, Kathleen Bergin, remains unanswered.  If you'd like to assist our government in understanding it's role in serving the people, please write her (kathleen.bergin@faa.gov)  to remind her of her promise to respond. 

However a phone call to Jeannette Moran, the DEA’s Miami media contact, did produce this just-before-deadline voicemail response:

“I know you’re asking about the Gulfstream in the Yucatan, I do not know who has that case, or if it’s a DEA case, I don’t know which division it might be out of... So I really cant help you with that, and I apologize. If you need anything else give me a call.”

This encapsulates the situation perfectly. When a bank robber steals a few thousand dollars before holing up with a hostage, does the FBI take three weeks before divulging the name of the suspect? ... "   Full article>>