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Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos, both former French military pilots, were on board a Falcon 50 jet that was stopped by Dominican authorities on the Punta Cana runway in March 2013.
The plane, bound for France, was found carrying 26 suitcases filled with 700 kilograms of cocaine. Alongside the pilots were two passengers, Nicolas Pisapia and Alain Castany. All four men were taken into custody.
At the time, Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos insisted they had no idea what was inside the bags. But investigators found messages that hinted otherwise. One of the texts reportedly sent by Fauret mentioned the “nature of the load,” raising doubts about their claims of innocence, as per a report by Time Magazine published on June 11, 2025.
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As per The Guardian, the story took another turn in 2015. With the help of outside parties, the two pilots fled the Dominican Republic by sea and made it back to France. A few years later, in 2019, they were found guilty of drug trafficking by a French court.
However, that conviction didn’t hold. According to Time Magazine, an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2021 due to a lack of solid evidence.
Netflix revisited the case in Cocaine Air: Smugglers at 30,000 Ft. The four-part series premiered globally on June 11, 2025, shedding new light on a case that’s still full of questions.
Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos were arrested at Punta Cana airport after authorities found 26 drug-filled suitcases on their jet
Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos, two former French military pilots, were at the center of a high-profile 2013 case that involved a private jet carrying 700 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic to France. Their story, widely referred to as the Air Cocaine case, is now the subject of the new documentary series Cocaine Air: Smugglers at 30,000 Ft. on Netflix.
The two men were arrested at the Punta Cana airport, along with passengers Nicolas Pisapia and Alain Castany, after Dominican authorities found 26 suitcases filled with drugs on board. Despite maintaining their innocence, Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos were sentenced to 20 years in prison in absentia in the Dominican Republic.
As reported by Time on June 11, 2025, Fauret and Odos later escaped the Dominican Republic in 2015 with the help of a covert extraction operation led by aviation expert Christophe Naudin. They claimed their return to France was not an act of evasion but a decision to face justice under their own country's legal system.
In 2019, the two were handed six-year prison sentences following their conviction after being taken into custody in France. However, in 2021, a French appeals court overturned the ruling due to a lack of direct evidence linking them to the cocaine cargo.
Trial evidence and ongoing suspicions
Throughout the case, questions persisted about how two experienced pilots could be unaware of such a large cargo. Investigating judge Christine Saunier-Ruellan cited text messages sent by Pascal Fauret, including “nature of the load confirmed” and “we did what we had to do” as potentially incriminating.
As per Time, co-director Olivier Bouchara stated,
"In the case of the two pilots, she didn’t have direct proof,..What she had were indications, or circumstantial evidence."
Netflix’s Cocaine Air: Smugglers at 30,000 Ft. also highlights conflicting narratives. Olivier Bouchara stated,
“Jerome and I were wondering during all of the shooting, are they responsible? And I have to say that we don't have the final answer.”
The series presents multiple perspectives without reaching a conclusive judgment, reflecting the ambiguity surrounding the pilots’ level of involvement.
Life after Cocaine Air: Smugglers at 30,000 Ft.
Since their acquittal, Pascal Fauret has refrained from public commentary and no longer works in aviation. Meanwhile, Bruno Odos has occasionally shared his experiences, including interviews for Canal+ in 2023 and Netflix in 2025.
Although no longer facing charges in France, both men remain at risk of arrest abroad due to the Dominican Republic's standing convictions. Their current routines reflect a conscious decision to distance themselves from the aviation world and the legal complexities tied to the Cocaine Air: Smugglers at 30,000 Ft. case.
Stay tuned for more updates.
