Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsTHE MOTHER OF ALL SCANDALS? Drug Pilot, Election Exec Killed on CIA...

THE MOTHER OF ALL SCANDALS? Drug Pilot, Election Exec Killed on CIA Plane

zipzOne week after the crash outside Caracas, Venezuela of a twin-engine  Piper Navajo (N6463L), an air of  intrigue surrounds almost everything about the flight, including the plane's ownership, passengers, and pilot.

Woven into one small story about a plane crash in Venezuela that killed seven people are visible threads from two perennial American cover-ups:  one surrounding vote fraud,  and one covering-up the CIA's role in drug trafficking.

For anyone interested in the news that gets left out of the newspaper, its’ a Perfect Storm. The Mother of All Scandals.

The downed plane's relevance to the ongoing story of vote fraud in America involves the identity of it's passenger, Jose Alfredo Anzola, a 34-year old founder of Smartmatic, a Venezuela-based election company whose American subsidiary counted one in every three votes in the 2004 Presidential election, while engaged the whole time in heated controversy over allegations the firm counting America's votes had hidden ties to—of all people— Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

The connection between last week's plane crash and the ongoing saga of CIA Drug trafficking begins with 43-year old Mario Donadi Gafaro, the veteran drug pilot at the controls of the twin engine plane.

Donadi boasts a 1999 drug trafficking conviction in the U.S., where he served three years.

Then, even more recently, he was convicted of the same offense  in Venezuela, and sentenced to an eight-year stretch at Venezuela’s Big House.

When he crashed and burned last week, reporters noted with surprise, he still had six years to serve. Donadi was supposed to be in prison.

But he apparently has friends in high places.   

Seven die in crash

acesuoThe plane crashed atop a six-story roof near Caracas while attempting to return to the international airport at Maiquetía after both engines quit just minutes after take-off.

Seven people died in the accident, three from the plane and four people living in the apartment house where the aircraft crashed. Two were children, girls 8 and 9 years old.

Crash pictures show the plane's tail, decorated with four aces because it was used to ferry gamblers to Curacao's casinos, sitting upright on a rooftop.

Several aviation observers,  citing the rare failure of both engines at once on twin-engine planes, have told the MadCowMorningNews they thought the crash appeared suspicious.

in the drink2“Charter People,” the Venezuelan company operating the stricken plane when it crashed,  has something of a checkered aviation history.

The company owned a Beach King Air 90 that last December ditched in the Caribbean 35 miles short of the Dominican Republic.

Seven people got out through an emergency hatch.  81 year-old Alicia Emmerich Fargie did not. She sank with the plane.

The Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation later issued a statement saying one of their priorities remained locating her body.

 
"Maybe he was just slippery."

N6463LAircraft registered in another country must have a permit to conduct charter flights in Venezuela. But that was the least of the irregularities which red-faced Venezuelan officials were left trying to explain away.

There were unanswered questions about why pilot  Mario Donadi Gafaro's  eight-year stretch for drug trafficking had had such little apparent effect on the pilot's freedom of movement.

Aviation officials in Venezuela predictably preferred to dwell on why U.S. authorities should be investigating how convicted felon Donadi got a pilot’s license in the U.S. from the FAA.

Local Venezuelan reporters asked, "How it was possible that Donadi, instead of lifting weights in a prison yard, was able to jet off to international destinations like the flight's announced destination of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles?"

One went so far as to write that it was a "Ripley's Believe it or not Moment."

We recalled what we'd been told while reporting the story of 23 missing helicopters at the Charlotte County Airport (later discovered to have been exported overseas by the CIA.)

The choppers weren't actually missing, said one wag at the airport. They'd just released themselves on their own recognizance.

Maybe that's what Donadi had done, too.

'Sheep-dipped' in Houston?

connie1What's the connection between last week's plane crash and the ongoing saga of CIA Drug trafficking? If you guessed "the plane's tangled ownership," you've obviously been paying attention.  

The mystery of who owns the downed American-registered aircraft is, as per usual, an enduring one, perhaps even to  law enforcement.

Like other well-publicized recent American planes downed in Central and South America, as more became known about the incident, the identification of the plane’s owners became progressively less certain.

“According to the Federal Aviation Agency in the United States, the aircraft is owned by Aircraft Guaranty & Trust of Houston,” The Miami Herald reported.

Well, not exactly.  The downed plane was merely registered to Aircraft Guaranty, which reportedly regularly disguises, or "sheep-dips," CIA aircraft into the unsuspecting world of general aviation.

Who actually owns the plane is  anybody's guess. And therein lies a tale.

Over America: Six Hundred Ghost Planes

agThe doomed flight’s owner, or owners, are deliberately shrouded in the mystery of an Offshore Aviation Trust.  

The scheme is the brainchild of Connie Wood, a former senior FAA official who owns Aircraft Guaranty, the company to whom the downed plane was registered.  Despite its tiny size,  more than six hundred American aircraft are registered to the firm.

It’s “a boon for well heeled U.S. owners seeking personal liability protection and ownership anonymity,” Wood told the Mooney Pilot.

The aviation magazine reported, “He predicts soon full FAA-approved and legal Off-Shore (as in the Cayman Islands) Aviation Trusts will be THE way most liability conscious and financially established owner/pilots will opt to take title to their aircraft… It promises to be far better than a typical corporate entity in protecting the beneficiary from personal liability exposure.”

Wood is a former U.S. Lt. Colonel who one aviation magazine (Mooney Pilot) stated is “the original Foreign Pilot Examiner for the FAA, where he personally served as prototype in the FAA’s Foreign Pilot Examiner test bed program.”

“Wood is the only such FAA Foreign Pilot Examiner Designee licensed to operate outside the U.S.,” the magazine reported.

“Uniquely, this allows Wood to issue FAA Licenses to non-residents outside the U.S. without the applicant ever entering the U.S.”

Wood’s FAA connections would seem to make him ideally suited for providing “cover” and plausible deniability to airplanes which have become infamous in planespotter circles for flying CIA “extraordinary renditions.”

The emergence of the famous 'planespotters,' who have identified, or "outed," several dozen airplanes apparently belonging to the CIA for use in "extraordinary renditions," may be responsible for some of Wood's success.

We called Wood for comment, but the only answer at the company's number was a voice mail message. At least they have a phone.

"Takes the checkered flag for checkered pasts."

handsacrossthewaterNor is Aircraft Guaranty’s reputation for serving as a "nominee" or "front" for ownership of planes by foreign nationals and spooks undeserved. Examples abound.  Some Aircraft Guaranty highlights (or lowlights:)

Aircraft Guaranty “owned” a plane (N11ZD) discovered sitting unattended at the Portland Airport on September 11, 2001. It had been left there by Khalid Alzeedi, a shadowy Saudi who owned Zidi Aviation, who was wanted for questioning by the FBI.

”FBI agents have been looking into whether associates of Osama bin Laden may traveled to Middle Tennessee this past summer in search of aircraft that could be used for training pilots, NewsChannel 5 has learned,” reported Brian Mosely of NewsChannel5 (WTVF – Nashville) on Oct. 7, 2001.

“The name of one man who spent some time here has made it onto an official list of some 370 possible suspects inadvertently released by Finnish banking authorities."

"Z-Man, We Hardly Knew Ye."

eddieHis name was Khalid Alzeedi. A year after the attack (fall 2002) the FBI announced they were no longer looking for him.
Others weren’t so sure…
“One night, Alzeedi was inside Eddie George's Grill at the Hilton Suites, just across from Nashville's arena,” Mosely reported in the evening newscast.

“Someone apparently stepped on his foot. Hotel workers say Alzeedi then identified himself as an Iranian diplomat, and demanded that the hotel compensate him.”

“(Later) the hotel locked Alzeedi and his party out of their rooms because of an unpaid bill of approximately $2,500. Inside the rooms, hotel workers found satellite navigation equipment and wet suits.”

Those kinky Saudis.


The "return" of Wally Hilliard

N35NKAircraft Guaranty even owns a plane which was used by and registered to terror flight school owner Wally Hilliard.

Hilliard’s Plane 1 Leasing owned a Lear Jet (N35NK), used for frequent flights to Rum Cay in the Bahamas, a sleepy little isle which began suddenly experiencing the wonders of big-time cocaine shipments.

The plane was later sold to Aircraft Guaranty, where it made flights to Guantanamo, as well as numerous other dubious Caribbean hot spots, and  had its picture taken during a rendition flight in Portugal.

Yet it also still flew, and regularly,  to known drug transfer points: Venice, Florida, Treasure Cay San Salvador, and Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas, the Netherlands Antilles, St. Maarten, and even Toluca, Mexico (where the DC9 with 5.5 tons of coke was supposed to offload.)

The sister ship to the DC9 'Cocaine One'

SIGN1Aircraft Guaranty today owns a DC 9 (N120NE) which was the sister ship of the DC-9 (N900SA) caught carrying 5.5 tons of pure cocaine in April of 2006, which set off a chain of events that eventually led law enforcement authorities in Mexico to identify 100 American planes purchased with laundered money from Mexico’s dominant Sinaloa Cartel.

Both DC9’s belonged to company insiders at SkyWay Aircraft, itself a company whose dubious existence cannot pass close scrutiny. There are two separate Skyway Aircraft’s, their owners insist, two business entities located at two separate small airports, with nothing in common but the same name.

The 5.5. ton bust was a depth charge dropped beneath into hitherto unexplored depths of an American drug trafficking empire which may be larger than any known object in the Universe.

Mexico’s legitimate trade with the U.S., for example, is big enough to send $4 billion north annually into U.S. banks.

Yet Mexico banks $16 billion in the U.S. annually. The other $12 billion, as any banker can tell you, is drug money, which the banks are happy to have.

All this intrigue, its hard to believe, is occurring in a sleepy city on Florida’s Gulf Coast filled with amiable retirees, a good number of whom do, indeed, play shuffleboard, St Petersburg FL., the most unlikely place imaginable for to find the American Drug Lords.

That's probably why they’re there.

 

Tomorrow: The hilarious world of election fraud.

AS SEEN ON TV!

Daniel Hopsicker
Daniel Hopsickerhttp://www.madcowprod.com
Daniel Hopsicker is an investigative journalist and the author of two books on transnational crime, Welcome to Terrorland and Barry & the Boys.
RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Daniel Hopsicker from 1998

Cancelled Book Orders

Keeping Mad Cow Alive

Recent Comments

Richard Yount on Keeping Mad Cow Alive
John Marden on The Wolves of Wall Street
josey carreiro on The Wolves of Wall Street
David A Howard on The Wolves of Wall Street
Chris Fogarty on BUT ME NO BUTTIGIEG’S
Chris Fogarty on BUT ME NO BUTTIGIEG’S
BThePrisoner on BUT ME NO BUTTIGIEG’S
Peruvian Marchingpowder on 140 Days After the Perfect Crime
Gayle Washburn on CONTAINER SHIP CRIME WAVE!
Chris Williams on Is JPMorgan the ultimate plug?
Teresa A Bacon on I Come Back with News
notjonathon on I Come Back with News
Philip Zozzaro on I Come Back with News
revtombrown on I Come Back with News
Bob In Portland on We Get Letters
riley on We Get Letters
David Koski on Jada & ‘the boys’
Mark Winchester Sr. on Jada & ‘the boys’
notjonathon on Jada & ‘the boys’
jo henrion on Jada & ‘the boys’
mike smith on Contact Us
Tim Landry on email
Florida on Oleg & Me
Jim Mayhew on Marc Harris Behind Bars
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
Rob Macfarlane on What is plagiarism?
DEDSTIK on What is plagiarism?
King Kangaroo on What is plagiarism?
Kent Andrews on bushfellas
Neil Pearson on Contact Us
mat burk on Contact Us
John M Gretchko on Donald Trump, Banana Republican
Lamont Cranston on Donald Trump, Banana Republican
John M Gretchko on Donald Trump, Banana Republican
TIM SHERRILL on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Deborah D Dulude on Tim Kaine’s Unlikely Biography
Deborah D Dulude on Tim Kaine’s Unlikely Biography
Anthony McArthur on Tim Kaine’s Unlikely Biography
Withheld for personal safety on 2016 election decides who controls the drug trade
Withheld for personal safety on 2016 election decides who controls the drug trade
Larry Brungardt on Marc Harris Behind Bars
Larry Brungardt on Marc Harris Behind Bars
Fed Hopsicker will delete this on THE STORY OF 9/11 IS A STORY ABOUT SAUDIS IN FLORIDA
Digitus Impudicus/Palmer Eldritch on Did Tom Cruise helicopter clip doomed ‘Mena’ plane?
george Archers on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
Herr der Elf on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
darkwhistle on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
TheHolyCrow on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
Ortaine Devian on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
Ortaine Devian on Jeb Bush’s 9/11 problem
Wendy Painting, PhD on Archive
Etta Redinsfier on A Muckrakers Life, Interrupted
Ron, from australia on A Muckrakers Life, Interrupted
Christian Gains on A Muckrakers Life, Interrupted
Gary Sandritter on A Muckrakers Life, Interrupted
c coaler on “Hatto’s” List
Roger Mills on Archive
Doug Fisher on Archive
Chris Sapp on Archive
Trevor on 77
Mike on radaris
Lyle Grosjean on “I AM JULIAN ASSANGE!”
Thomas S. Bean on The Real American Desperadoes
Thomas S. Bean on The Real American Desperadoes
Thomas S. Bean on The Real American Desperadoes
Thomas S. Bean on The Real American Desperadoes
Thomas S. Bean on The Real American Desperadoes
Frank Di Bello on The Real American Desperadoes
California Granny on The Real American Desperadoes
ted rubinstein on The Real American Desperadoes
ted rubinstein on The Real American Desperadoes