A Bahamian man who survived a harrowing plane crash that stranded him and 11 others at sea was arrested on Friday for allegedly smuggling cocaine into the US.
When the Bahamas-bound plane crashed 80 miles off the coast of Florida on May 12, 11 adult passengers and one pilot were left floating adrift on inflatable rafts for five hours.
While other passengers were praying for safe rescue, Jonathan Gardiner allegedly secured a bag containing $30,000 in Bahamian currency.
The unsuspecting package was reportedly emblazoned with the name of a Bahamian politician accused of working with an international drug trafficking organization, according to a federal complaint obtained by Channel 2 Action News.
Gardiner also had three cell phones on him when the plane went down, the complaint said, though it’s not clear if they were damaged in the crash.
Gardiner was accused on Friday of moving multiple tons of cocaine between Colombia, the Bahamas and the US since 2023.
He was charged with one count of cocaine import conspiracy for allegedly smuggling cocaine.
All 11 passengers and the lone pilot were saved by the US Coast Guard and the Air Force.
Some sustained broken bones and other blunt force injuries, but they’ve all since been discharged, according to survivor Olympia Outten.
Outten, 48, was on board with her niece when the plane’s engine suddenly stalled.
“[My niece] noticed the motors wasn’t moving anymore, and she told [the pilot]. She said, the best thing to do is to put the plane down in the water,” Outten recounted at a news conference.
The passengers waited out the next five hours in three dingy rafts while trying to shake the shellshocked pilot out of an apparent “trance.”
“He can’t believe this happens, after it happened. Then he said he’s not going to fly anymore,” Outten said.
When Outten started to doubt that they would all survive, she said she began to pray, and the military convoy arrived not long after.
Outten said that all the passengers were back in the Bahamas by Thursday, save for herself and her niece, who stayed in Florida. It’s not clear if Gardiner was arrested on US soil or back in the Bahamas.
