Prosecutor Ingrid Cubilla led on Tuesday, the 23rd, the forensic inspection of the Bombardier Challenger 601-3A executive jet, registration N116HL, seized after smuggling 261.6 kilos of premium marijuana into Paraguay. The procedure was carried out at the First Air Brigade of the Paraguayan Air Force in Luque, where the aircraft remains in custody.
The inspection included an internal and external structural analysis of the plane to identify possible drug hiding places, as well as the extraction and evaluation of data from navigation and GPS systems. The information obtained will be submitted to expert analysis and incorporated into the prosecution's case file.
The jet had departed from Miami, United States, with a stopover in Panama, and was intercepted on May 30 during the unloading of eight bags at a private hangar at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport. The drug was being transferred to a pickup truck when authorities approached the aircraft, as part of the Hummingbird Program (Programa Colibrí).
According to investigators, premium marijuana can fetch up to US$14,000 per kilo on the Brazilian market, meaning the seized cargo represents an economic loss of approximately US$3.6 million for the criminal network involved. The jet, launched in 1987 with an original value of US$19 million, currently has an estimated market value between US$1.5 million and US$4 million, depending on flight hours.
The individuals arrested and charged — David Thomas Wise, Troy Anthony Vásquez, and Marisol Rivas, all U.S. nationals — were indicted for international drug trafficking and unauthorized possession of narcotics. Wise and Vásquez are being held in pretrial custody at the National Center for Detainees (formerly Tacumbú), while Rivas is held at the Women's Correctional Complex (Comple). The copilot was initially detained but was later released.
The fugitive pilot is identified as Keith Siilats, a businessman of Estonian nationality, who reportedly left Paraguayan territory on a commercial flight shortly after landing. He released a video claiming he had no knowledge of the illicit cargo and saying he only learned about the drug upon arriving in Miami, offering to cooperate with the justice system.
U.S. national Jabari Stephen Brown, known as Captain Treezy on social media and the winner of an executive jet in a competition organized by content creator MrBeast, was initially detained but released due to a lack of evidence against him. Authorities clarified that the seized aircraft is not the same one he won in the contest with 99 other pilots.
The experts appointed to analyze the data extracted from the narcojet are expected to testify next Friday before Rosarito Montanía, the criminal court judge specializing in organized crime, in order to then issue a technical report to be attached to the criminal case.