Canadian pilot who exposed Dominican Republic drug trafficking operation suing federal government, Pivot Airlines

A Canadian airline pilot who was detained in the Dominican Republic after he and his crew discovered more than 200 kilos of cocaine on board a flight to Toronto is seeking $16 million from the federal government and his former employer, Pivot Airlines.

A Canadian airline pilot who was detained in the Dominican Republic after he and his crew discovered more than 200 kilos of cocaine on board a flight to Toronto is seeking $16 million from the federal government and his former employer, Pivot Airlines.

A statement of claim, filed April 5 in Ontario Superior court, noted that Rob DiVenanzo continued to "suffer significant" physical, emotional and psychological harm stemming from what he had to endure while stranded in the Dominican Republic for nearly eight months in 2022.

"I'm never going to be the same," said DiVenanzo, who is being represented by high-profile lawyer Marie Henein, of Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP. "It's changed me. I really feel like I'm not as happy as I used to be. I've made great strides in the time that I've been back, but I'm definitely different."

Not long after they reported finding roughly $25 million in drugs on their charter plane, DiVenanzo and four other crew members were jailed for nine days before being released under house arrest in the Dominican Republic.

Under constant threat, they had to be moved to multiple safehouses and received around the clock armed security.

He and the crew got so desperate for help at one point several months in that they made a public plea to the prime minister for their release. Still, nothing happened.

Then, after more than seven months and days after a W5 team began asking questions while on the ground in the Dominican Republic, their case was mysteriously dropped and they were allowed to return home.