Story ID: 
'Air Cocaine' Pilots Flee Dominican Republic
By: Thierry Dubois
Caption: Both French pilots were under legal supervision, awaiting an appeals trial after they were sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Word Count: 198
Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos, the two French pilots of the cocaine-laden Falcon 50 who were arrested in the Dominican Republic in 2013 with their passengers, have fled and are now in France. TV reports suggest they were assisted by friends and used two boats and forged passports to escape from the country. They then took an Air Caraïbes scheduled flight from an island in the French Caribbean.

The pilots' lawyers said they have fled what they feel was unfair judicial treatment in the Dominican Republic. “Odos and Fauret are looking forward to talking to the French judge,” their lawyers said today during a press conference in Paris, adding that they called the judge yesterday. The pilots were sentenced to 20 years in jail in August.

“This is when I made the decision [to run],” Fauret said. Both pilots arrived in France late last week. In the so-called “Air Cocaine” case, they were indicted for drug smuggling but were given no opportunity to defend themselves, their lawyers allege. In the Dominican Republic, they were free but their passports were confiscated to prevent them from leaving the country until the conclusion of the appeals trial.