Thread by @steffanwatkins

🇻🇪 CIA weapons shipment destined for #Venezuela|n rebels?
That's what the authorities are saying.
O/C that would be completely out of character... 🙄

While @CalibreObscura is pouring over the pictures of the guns, I'm way more interested in the plane!

valenciainforma.obolog.es/operacion-gnb-…

🇺🇸 American-registered N881YV (ICAO:AC23C6) is a Boeing 767 Cargo plane (no windows) operated by 21 Air, LLC. The company was registered in 2014 to fly cargo from Orlando to Miami with two planes.

Two? How do you run a cargo company with 2 planes?

flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/…

That's okay, don't be worried about their business; they're super busy, and do not just fly the Miami-Orlando cargo circuit as documented; they fly all over! They're into wet leasing. What's wet leasing?

Wet leased aircraft provide short term leases of the aircraft, maintenance, crew, etc. so the lessee can just expense it and not "operate" the aircraft themselves. You know, like a shell company, without the fuss.

jsfirm.com/21+Air+LLC/Gre…

As documented on Wikipedia, Wet Leasing is common and sometimes used where the leasee cannot operate in a certain country; like Egypt/Israel.

(The X509 certificate used for their web site isn't signed by a trusted root, but mentions a "weitzelconsulting"; local web guy? Or German company? I'll leave that one up to someone else.)

Flights to Colombia and Venezuela (re)started January 11th 2019, and did you know under "Wet Leasing" the leasee is the one to provide the flight numbers? Well, Jan 11th they changed number formats; from CSBxxxx to CSBxxx (a 3 digit flight number, rather than 4; a new leasee?)

This is important because it strongly suggests Air 21 LLC entered a new agreement with *someone* to transport *stuff* starting mid-January, and since that time they've been bouncing back and forth to Colombia and Venezuela *extremely* frequently.

Can I confirm Air 21 is an cargo aircraft company the CIA is using to wet lease to hide any association?

No.

BUT, I am very sure they started flying under a new contact with a new customer Jan 11th, and since then have been flying almost exclusively to Colombia and Venezuela.

I'm sure there are lots of reasons for any company to want to lease a 767 cargo plane to move stuff to Colombia and Venezuela from Florida mid-January forward. Right?

*21 Air LLC; not Air 21 LLC - My bad.

...and if anyone is interested; the cargo plane that the Venezuelan military has accused of transporting arms into Venezuela is now arriving in Kingston, #Jamaica 🇯🇲.
flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/…

Dates? Here is a first draft of flights from Miami of taht 21 Air plane

Miami to Caracas (CCS)
Jan 11, 16, 18, Feb 05

Miami to Valencia
Jan 15, 21, 30, Feb 03

Miami to Bogota
Jan 22,23,25,26,27,28,29,Feb 02,03,04

Miami to Medellin
Feb 06

I would like more detail on these 90 antennas for (mobile?) radios that were confiscated by the Venezuelan authorities. Anyone see/hear anything? Brand, model, etc..

https://twitter.com/PalenciaEndes/status/1092877981347926016

PS, My bad on Jamaica. N881YV was headed right for it, but it stayed at 36,000ft (I should have noticed it wasn't on an approach, oops)

From 2019-01-11 on N881YV has been doing very regular flights to Venezuela and Colombia; here's when (to the best of my knowledge, and FR24)

2019-01-11 20:11Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) Landed 23:00Z (CSB703)
(Caracas (CCS) 🇻🇪 -> Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴) ?

2019-01-12 04:42Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) UnknownZ (CSB704)
2019-01-15 16:48Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Valencia (VLN) Landed 19:33Z (CSB715)
(Valencia (VLN) 🇻🇪 -> Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-01-16 00:44Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 03:41Z (CSB716)

2019-01-16 18:57Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) Landed 21:48Z (CSB716)
(🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) -> Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-01-17 16:36Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 19:38Z (CSB702)
2019-01-18 18:04Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) Landed 20:52Z (CSB715)

(🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) -> Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴)
2019-01-19 04:39Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 07:37Z (CSB716)
2019-01-21 08:17Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Valencia (VLN) Landed 11:11Z (CSB715)
(Valencia (VLN) 🇻🇪 -> Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴) ?

2019-01-22 04:02Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 07:47Z (CSB716)
2019-01-22 18:14Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 21:27Z (CSB705)
2019-01-22 23:32Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 03:18Z (CSB706)

2019-01-23 05:54Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 09:06Z (CSB701)
2019-01-25 10:13Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 13:21Z (CSB702)
2019-01-26 02:46Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 06:01Z (CSB705)

2019-01-26 08:19Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 11:49Z (CSB706)
2019-01-27 11:52Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 14:58Z (CSB709)
2019-01-27 17:37Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 20:36Z (CSB710)

2019-01-28 03:05Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 06:24Z (CSB701)
2019-01-28 08:15Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 12:22Z (CSB702)
2019-01-29 02:50Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 06:10Z (CSB705)

2019-01-29 11:45Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 14:51Z (CSB706)
2019-01-30 12:27Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Valencia (VLN) Landed 15:23Z (CSB709)
(Valencia (VLN) 🇻🇪 -> Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-01-31 02:13Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 04:26Z (CSB710)

2019-01-31 10:54Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 14:04Z (CSB701)
2019-01-31 16:45Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 19:57Z (CSB702)
(Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸 -> Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-02-01 09:49Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 12:59Z (CSB706)

2019-02-02 04:27Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 07:37Z (CSB709)
2019-02-02 11:28Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 14:45Z (CSB710)
2019-02-03 03:38Z Miami (OPF) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 06:47Z (CSB701)

2019-02-03 10:14Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 13:21Z (CSB702)
2019-02-03 18:02Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Valencia (VLN) Landed 20:56Z (CSB703)
(Valencia (VLN) 🇻🇪 -> Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-02-04 03:42Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 06:47Z (CSB704)

2019-02-04 20:18Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Bogota (BOG) Landed 23:37Z (CSB715)
2019-02-05 01:29Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 04:33Z (CSB716)
2019-02-05 10:30Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Medellin (MDE) Landed 13:21Z (CSB709)

2019-02-05 23:26Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) Landed 02:12Z (CSB701)
(🇻🇪 Caracas (CCS) -> Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴) ?
2019-02-06 08:43Z Bogota (BOG) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 11:53Z (CSB702)
2019-02-06 22:17Z Miami (MIA) 🇺🇸->🇨🇴 Medellin (MDE) Landed ? (CSB703)

2019-02-07 03:37Z Medellin (MDE) 🇨🇴->🇺🇸 Miami (MIA) Landed 06:39Z (CSB704)

Does this confirm the claim by the Venezuelan Government that the US is using N881YV to ferry guns into the country?

No.

..but it does show a drastic uptick in traffic to VZ and CO from January 11th on.

So, @eleevn just noticed some ppl at 21 Air LLC worked for companies that did rendition flights for the #CIA; remember they did nothing illegal, everyone works for one of those companies that takes people to CIA black sites worldwide sooner or later.

https://twitter.com/eleevn/status/1093999410239938561

Follow-up by the Miami Herald
miamiherald.com/article2260119…

We now have quotes from GPS-air and 21 Air, LLC

Let's fact-check them and dissect what they did, and didn't say.

“All of the cargo on board our aircraft was from the GPS-Air, who chartered the aircraft,” -21 Air LLC lawyer, Alberto N Moris

So, 21 Air says the flight did go to VZ on 2019-02-03 as the Venezuelan government said, and they were wet-leasing their aircraft to GPS-air. Got that?

“GPS-Air has been the only company that has chartered it for the last few weeks to Valencia, Venezuela,” -21 Air LLC lawyer, Alberto N Moris

Rephrased: GPS-Air is the only company who has flown to Valencia with their plane,, and they have been chartering the plane for 3 weeks.

Taking this statement and applying it to flight data and #OSINT, on January 11th GPS-Air entered into a new wet lease contract with 21 Air, LLC and has since then been flying daily(ish) flights to Colombia, but has made some trips to Venezuela too.

“The cargo doesn’t belong to 21 Air and it doesn’t belong to GPS-Air,” -Cesar Meneses, Manager, GPS-Air

They don't know what's travelling, on their flights, that they file flight plans for, and have wet-leased aircraft from 21 Air in order to fly, between FL, VZ and CO?

Paraphrasing:

21 Air, LLC ~ We just lease aircraft, crew, insurance, and maintenance; we know nothing.

GPS-Air ~ We just lease aircraft, file flight plans to/from Venezuela and Colombia, shipping stuff for people; we know nothing.

🙈🙉🙊

There is no proof that there were any sort of weapons aboard the 21 Air LLC flight to Venezuela. The only people to say the firearms displayed were brought in from a crate on that plane were members of the Venezuelan government with a vested interest in framing the US IC.

However, the Venezuelan government, who can be presumed to be advised by the Russians (arguably better intelligence collection apparatus than VZ), made a public statement calling out 21 Air LLC specifically.

Were they just a random unlucky company they framed? Maybe. Maybe not.

There are hundreds (thousands?) of ppl that worked for companies who performed extraordinary rendition flights to black sites worldwide, so American prisoners could be tortured; they have skills and are employed.
Are their current employers CIA-contracted? I can't determine that.

I can give you facts. Since 2019-01-11 21 Air LLC has flown

9x Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG)
4x Miami (MIA) to Caracas (CCS)
2x Miami (MIA) to Medellin (MDE)
4x Miami (MIA) to Valencia (VLN)
1x Miami (OPF) to Bogota (BOG)

14x Bogota (BOG) to Miami
7x Medellin (MDE) to Miami

Well that's interesting; I hadn't noticed Solar Aviation came up recently re: VZ Gold

https://twitter.com/marcelvandenber/status/1094255044696920064

January 26 2019? We can fact-check that.
middleeasteye.net/news/cash-stra…

....or it was fiction; always a possibility. I haven't seen anything showing the Reuters source knew anything or was telling the truth. We have the name of a company that doesn't have any appropriate planes, no tail #; I think we've been fed a line.

https://twitter.com/marcelvandenber/status/1094257345314648065

Since the Regan-Iran-Contra-era the public has become a whole lot smarter, and old #disinformation techniques don't work anymore. We, the people, will fact-check and debunk these stories live in real time, not in retrospectives ten years from now.

https://twitter.com/AircraftSpots/status/1094257339127934976

*Reagan

I like this story more and more;

GPS-Air's web site seems to have lost their "contact us" page; here you go in case you're trying to contact them for an interview.

https://twitter.com/steffanwatkins/status/1094359870567051265

🇺🇸 American-registered Boeing 767 Cargo plane N881YV (ICAO:AC23C6), operated by 21 Air, LLC, wet-leased to GPS-Air, flew every single day from 2019-01-11 to 2019-02-07 from Florida to VZ or CO, sometimes both; then stopped.

On the 7th. Why might that be?

Funny story; do you know when the Venezuelans published the name of the suspect flight and laid out the spread of guns allegedly from the plane? February 5th.

Flights stopped when the public were told about them happening February 7th.

Remember the 2006 Amnesty International report about CIA Extraordinary Rendition to "black sites" where they'd torture American prisoners?
Well, here's the report since you may have missed it.
(pay attention to the plane part)
amnesty.org/download/Docum…

You may not have heard about the follow up that uncovered the network of WET LEASING COMPANIES the CIA was using, and an additional 50 more planes that had previously not been identified as facilitating flights to worldwide CIA torture sites. (2015)
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Do you think some of those same air frames are still in use? Oh, you betcha they are.

Where are they now?

It seems many have been sold offshore, some are still in he US; are they hiding them away from the FAA so they are harder to track, or did they just buy new planes? IDK.

I'm going to need to review further research on the history of CIA Extraordinary Rendition flights by Wet Leasing companies, but, I think they've been framed all wrong. What if these are just examples of the 'regular" CIA clandestine way to move VIPs around, and Top Secret cargo?

🇺🇸 American registered Boeing 737-81Q N733MA|A9D744 is now owned/operated by Miami Air International. It was one of the planes that took American prisoners to CIA black sites to be tortured. I can't tell who Miami Air Intl has a contract with, but they make flights to Guantanamo.

Reference:
flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/…

More, much more:
therenditionproject.org.uk/flights/compan…

aircharterguide.com/Operator_Info/…

Miami Air International charges $4600-10,000/hr for their 737 flights, in case you wanted to do some math and know how much the government pays for covert flights to Guantanamo, currently.

According to the OPERATION MONGOOSE documentation from 1962, civilian contractors and civilian planes were only supposed to be used to supplement the existing covert agency air flights.

21 Air LLC Boeing 767 N881YV flew Miami to Medellin (MDE) and back again Feb 11 & Feb 12th, with matching sequential call signs, which strongly indicates they are still flying for GPS-Air.

cc: @TimJohnson4