'Cocaine Cargo': Eagle-eyed flight attendant on how she uncovered key evidence
Christina Carello knows she is a good flight attendant. She’s been shepherding vacationers and executives around the world for 14 years. What she didn’t know, until a sensational series of events, is that she is a pretty good detective as well.
The 33-year-old Ontario woman’s painstaking digging uncovered the fact that key evidence had been tampered with, in a legal ordeal that kept her and her airline crew trapped in the Dominican Republic for more than seven months.
The nightmare began on April 5, 2022, when the Pivot Airlines crew was making final preparations to return seven Canadian passengers on a chartered flight from Punta Cana to Toronto. Carello was on board the plane when pilot Rob Divananzo made an announcement.
"The pilot actually came out of the flight deck and did a PA, letting the passengers know that they had to deplane because they found something on the plane," Carello told W5.
The passengers disembarked and headed to a VIP lounge while Christina and the rest of the crew stayed on the tarmac. They watched in horror as a big black duffle bag, tied up in yellow rope, was removed from the plane’s avionics bay -- a compartment under the plane that houses the computer systems.
"We didn’t know what it was. It could have been a bomb," Carello said.
But there wasn’t just one bag. There were eight. And it wasn’t a bomb. It was 210 kilograms of cocaine.
Carello says heavily armed Dominican drug squad officers eventually appeared and lined the crew and the passengers up in front of the 50-seat jet.
"The one guy said, ‘I am going to put powder in the package. If it turns blue, it’s positive for cocaine.’ And it turned blue. And at that point, he said we were all being detained. Then we got put in handcuffs. We were all in shock. Nobody knew what to say," she said.
The crew spent nine days in jail and then months under virtual house arrest, with no passports, on a no-fly list, and living in fear of retribution for reporting the drugs and disrupting a cocaine pipeline to Canada.
They were never interviewed by police. And then, out of the blue, on Nov. 10, 2022, the district attorney dropped the case against them. The crew and seven passengers are now back in Canada.
For the first time, Carello is telling the story of how she discovered that someone had tampered with airport surveillance video taken the night before the drugs were found. It’s a discovery that proves neither the crew nor the passengers could have physically loaded the drugs onto the plane.
Christina Carello in her flight attendant uniform (Supplied photo)
About three months into their detention, the Dominican prosecutor shared hours of raw surveillance video of Punta Cana airport with Pivot Airline lawyers. The crew, living in their guarded safe house, was given access to the video and spent hours poring over it.
Christina, with a notepad in hand, was about four hours into watching the footage when she hit the jackpot.
“I was tired, right? So I was like ‘Am I…are my eyes crazy?’ I had to keep playing it back and forth. I’m like, something is obviously wrong there.”
While everyone else who viewed the video -- including lawyers and investigators -- had focused on the plane, Carello was looking at the timestamp. She noticed that 40 minutes had been edited out of the video.
But then she found something else. Buried deep in a misnamed file, she discovered another video from a different angle. One that was not edited. Carello yelled out to the four other crew members.
"I said, 'I need you guys to watch this and see if I’m crazy, if I am actually seeing this right.'"
In the unedited video, you can see a Punta Cana airport truck pull up close to the plane at about 3:30 am, and over the next 25 minutes, big black bags pile up and then disappear into the plane’s belly.
Lawyers for the crew and passengers confirm that hotel surveillance video shows no one left their hotel during the night.
So, who edited the airport surveillance video? Pivot Airlines CEO Eric Edmondson says if Dominican authorities were interested in finding out, it wouldn’t be a difficult investigation.
"What we have learned is that the evidence was gathered at the security office of the Punta Cana airport. The people that have edit power of that video can only use…fingerprints to edit. I think it should be a fairly easy job to figure out who did it, given the time of day and when it was edited," Edmondson said.
W5 is airing a special investigation on Saturday night at 7 p.m. into mysterious and shady events both in the Dominican Republic and in Canada surrounding attempts to smuggle 210 kg. of cocaine into Canada.
Christina Carello, meanwhile, is trying to put the nightmare in paradise behind her.
"I think I’ll take maybe a month or two [off work], but my passion is flying. I won’t leave it."
Will she ever fly back to the Dominican Republic?
"Never."
Do you have any tips on this story? Please contact Eric Szeto eric.szeto@bellmedia.ca or Avery Haines avery.haines@bellmedia.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
Steve Buscemi punched in the face while walking in N.Y.C.
Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi has been treated for injuries after being punched in the face while walking in New York City.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
opinion Harry and Meghan's Nigerian adventure: Traditional attire to warm welcomes
For her latest column on CTVNews.ca, royal commentator Afua Hagan writes about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent visit to Nigeria, calling it a 'deeply meaningful campaign' that was about aligning their ongoing efforts to foster mental-health awareness and promoting the Invictus Games.
'Terrifying': Manitoba resident speaks on wildfire and evacuation
As a pair of wildfires burn near Flin Flon and The Pas, a number of Manitobans are being told to evacuate their homes.
Ontario's need for nurses, PSWs to top 33K and 50K by 2032: document
Ontario will need 33,200 more nurses and 50,853 more personal support workers by 2032, the government projects — figures it tried to keep secret but were obtained by The Canadian Press.
Jerry Seinfeld speech prompts pro-Palestinian demonstration at U.S. university graduation ceremony
A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting "free Palestine" amid a mix of boos and cheers.
No concert ticket? No problem — Swifties can still gather at 'Taylgate' in Toronto
Whether you were lucky to nab tickets to one of Taylor Swift's six sold-out Toronto concerts in November or not, a new 'fan experience' hopes to get you into the party spirit.
Local Spotlight
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Chris Hadfield inspires youth musical in Sudbury
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Wilfrid Laurier football player drafted despite only playing 27 games in his entire life
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Toronto-area dessert shop featured by Keith Lee forced to move after zoning complaint
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
'Oh Crap!' New exhibit at Canada Science and Technology Museum explores human waste
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'