Paraguayan authorities have found more than 260 kilograms of hashish on a private jet piloted by Estonian entrepreneur Keith Siilats, according to local media reports.
The drugs were discovered on Sunday on board a Bombardier Challenger 604 private aircraft parked in a hangar at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, near Paraguay’s capital, Asunción.
Paraguayan authorities estimate the value of the haul at about USD 3.6 million.
The aircraft had reportedly arrived in Paraguay on Friday evening. According to Paraguayan media, Siilats was the pilot of the aircraft, while his co-pilot was Jabari Stephan Brown, an American pilot also known as Captain Treezy.
Paraguayan media initially reported that the aircraft belonged to Siilats. He has denied this, telling the Estonian weekly Eesti Ekspress that the jet belongs to Denis Mouterde, who had rented it about a month earlier to David Thomas Wise.
Police reportedly found the hashish hidden in the aircraft’s luggage area and structural compartments.
South American media outlets have reported that Siilats left Paraguay on Saturday, shortly before the police operation took place. Siilats told Eesti Ekspress that he left because he had a flight from Miami to Pittsburgh on Sunday, which had already been booked before the Paraguay trip.
Siilats denies knowing about the drugs
Siilats has denied having any knowledge of the illegal cargo.
Speaking to the Paraguayan newspaper El Nacional, he said he was prepared to cooperate fully with prosecutors and provide evidence supporting his version of events.
“I am genuinely ready to speak with the Paraguayan prosecutors and help them. I hate drug traffickers – they are the worst thing for the aviation sector,” Siilats told the newspaper.
In comments to Eesti Ekspress, Siilats also said the aircraft’s regular pilot was unavailable, which was why he had been hired for the flight.
According to Siilats, nothing appeared suspicious at first. He said the passengers had only one bag with them and that, before the flight, he had submitted their details and passport copies to both United States and Paraguayan authorities.
“The first time I noticed something unusual was after we arrived in Paraguay,” Siilats told Eesti Ekspress. “The passengers took a long time to leave the aircraft. In addition, they had ordered a private hangar from the airport for USD 1,500, which I considered unnecessary, as they had only one bag and the main terminal would have been sufficient.”
He said he also found it unusual that the passengers had communicated directly with the airport, as he would normally handle such arrangements. “But Mr Wise has an airline, JetWise, so I thought it was fine,” Siilats said.
Siilats told El Nacional that he later learned the passengers had allegedly hired a company to carry out work on the aircraft overnight. According to him, the drugs had been hidden inside the aircraft’s wall structures.
He also questioned what he described as the automatic assumption of crew responsibility in such cases.
Siilats told Eesti Ekspress that he did not currently plan to return to Paraguay in the near future.
Four people detained
Four people have reportedly been detained in connection with the case, including Brown, Siilats’s co-pilot.
The other detainees have been named by Paraguayan media as Marisol Rivas, 39, from New York; Troy Anthony Vásquez, 42, from Florida; and David Thomas Wise, 58, who lives in California. They were taken to give statements on Sunday.
The Paraguayan outlet La Política Online has reported that police intend to notify Interpol about Siilats.
According to the Paraguayan newspaper Última Hora, the operation was carried out under the Colibri programme, a joint initiative involving several Paraguayan state agencies, including the National Anti-Drug Secretariat, SENAD; the Paraguayan Air Force; the Civil Aviation Authority, DINAC; the National Directorate of Tax Revenue, DNIT; and the police.
From tech entrepreneur to private pilot
Siilats is known in Estonia as a businessman and technology entrepreneur. He has previously said he later moved into aviation and began working as a private pilot.
In an interview with the Estonian magazine Kroonika last autumn, Siilats said he offered private pilot services in Miami alongside his business activities, flying clients internationally when required.
“I own my own aircraft in Miami, a Challenger 601, with which I provide the service, and there are also aircraft that I fly,” he told the magazine.
Eesti Ekspress, which reported the story in Estonia, had initially been unable to reach Siilats for comment, but later published his denial that he owned the aircraft and his account of how he came to pilot the flight.
Paraguayan authorities have not yet announced formal charges against Siilats.
