Exclusive surveillance footage shows duffel bags being loaded onto Pivot Airlines jet
Travellers would normally pay top dollar to stay at a beautiful villa at an exclusive resort in the Dominican Republic.
For pilot Rob DiVenanzo, the experience was a nightmare.
He was part of the five-member flight crew that was detained in the country for nearly eight months after they found large duffel bags that were stuffed with cocaine in their plane's avionics bay, and reported them to Dominican authorities and the RCMP.
When W5's Avery Haines caught up with him, he was staying in a villa that doubled as a heavily guarded safe house provided by his employer, Pivot Airlines. He and his fellow crew members were living in constant fear of retribution.
"It's paradise in another lifetime. Not now. I feel like we're trapped in a cage here," DiVenanzo told W5. "I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, worried about my safety. I'm worried about my family's safety back in Canada."
He took W5 minute-by-minute through surveillance video that was captured at Punta Cana International Airport the night before his crew discovered the duffel bags full of drugs.
One of the crew's flight attendants had noticed that the video, which was given to the crew's defence team by the prosecutor as part of the flight crew's long-running court battle, had been tampered with. At one point, the video's timecode can be seen skipping ahead by 43 minutes.
But a second misnamed video that was captured from a different angle was also sent to the Pivot Airlines crew, which showed what happened during those missing 43 minutes: an airport vehicle brings black bags up to the plane, and the bags appear to be loaded inside.
DiVenanzo told W5 that he and his crew don't know when the video was edited, or by whom.
"This was evidence that was provided to our legal team by the prosecutor's office," he told W5. "So we can assume that it was edited sometime between the airport providing it or the drug police or the prosecutor. So somebody within that group edited this, hoping that we wouldn't see what actually happened."
Watch W5's investigation, 'Cocaine Cargo,' on Dec. 10, 2022, at 7 p.m. on CTV
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.
Local Spotlight
Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors bet on who will win Round 2 of the playoffs. Here's what's at stake
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
'No other life taken': Mother leads ATV helmet drive to honour daughter's legacy
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
P.E.I. lighthouse, N.B. river spotlighted in Canada Post series
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.