Judge Rosarito Montanía ordered the preventive detention of three American citizens accused of bringing a record shipment of 261 kilograms of high-purity marijuana into Paraguay, considered one of the largest seizures of its kind in the country.
The defendants — David Thomas Wise (57), Troy Anthony Vasquez (42), and Marisol Rivas (39) — face charges of international trafficking and unauthorized possession of narcotics. The judge accepted the Public Prosecutor's request, citing a high risk of flight due to the foreigners' complete lack of ties to the country, as well as the potential obstruction of the investigation.
After the hearing to impose measures, it was ordered that the two men serve their detention at the National Detention Center (formerly Tacumbú) in Asunción, while the woman will be taken to the Women's Prison Complex in Emboscada.
The drugs, described as having a high THC content and vacuum-packed, were transported to Paraguay on a Bombardier Challenger executive jet bearing the U.S. registration N116HL. The aircraft rental cost more than $91,875, on a route that departed from Miami, made a technical stop in Panama City, and landed at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.
The shipment was discovered when David Thomas Wise returned to the private hangar where the jet was stored and attempted to remove several black bags from inside. When questioned by staff at the site, he claimed the bags contained musical instruments. His suspicious behavior prompted the immediate call of officials from the National Civil Aviation Directorate, who summoned Air Force personnel and agents from the National Anti-Drug Secretariat to open the luggage.
Anti-drug prosecutor Ingrid Cubilla decided to exclude the plane's co-pilot, Jamaican national Jabari Stephan Brown, from the case because he actively cooperated with investigators from the start. The opposite situation applies to the jet's pilot, Estonian Keith Siilats (47), who left Paraguayan territory immediately after landing. The Public Prosecutor's Office announced it will request an international arrest warrant against him, arguing that the aircraft commander played a distinct role in the logistics and could not have been unaware of the nature or volume of the multimillion-dollar cargo he was transporting on the plane.