Hon. David M. Wells: Honourable senators, as you may know from my Question Period interventions over the past eight months, in April a Canadian flight crew working for Pivot Airlines was arbitrarily detained in the Dominican Republic, having discovered and reported 210 kilograms of cocaine on their aircraft during a pre-flight check.

The crew was detained, jailed with drug traffickers, received death threats and had their passports seized. A dead body was left outside their cell and they were told they would be next.

Following their release, the crew had to move from safe house to safe house. In August, video evidence came to light that showed the drugs had been loaded onto the aircraft by a third party early on the morning of departure while the crew was at their hotel.

Colleagues, after multiple interventions and continuous pressure — as you may have heard — I’m pleased to report that, after eight months, the crew has finally returned home.