Western Global Airlines N545JN

 Western Global Airlines N545JN

A view of the dead body that was found in Harare, along with 67 tonnes of banknotes, in an apparently CIA-owned plane making what was later claimed to be a "Diplomatic Shipment".
Date	13 February 2016 - Present
Perpetrators	Western Global Airlines
Exposed by	Daniel Hopsicker
Description	67 tons of cash and a body found on the CIA plane.

Western Global Airlines Flight N545JN is a remarkable tale with a somewhat eyebrow raising official narrative, explaining why 67 tonnes of banknotes and a dead body were the only cargo of a plane which made an emergency landing at the Zimbabwean capital Harare. However, as with the 2006 bust of a DC-9 carrying 5.6 tonnes of cocaine no prosecutions were forthcoming.

Official narrative

On February 13th 2016 a Western Global Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-11, registration N545JN (leased to Network Airline Management) performed a flight AJK-4425 from Entebbe (Uganda) to Liege (Belgium), before flying on to Munich, still as flight AJK-4425 the same day. It took on a cargo of 67 tonnes of freshly printed banknotes. As the South African Reserve Bank clarified: "The bulk of the annual production of banknotes is done locally in South Africa and a small percentage is done offshore as part of the contingency plans of the SARB. The aircraft currently detained at Harare Airport is carrying a consignment of South African banknotes that was produced overseas as part of the SARB's annual production plan."

Ground staff in Munich noticed the blood stains, but believed the crew's explanation that the blood was because the plane had struck a bird.

On Feb 13th 2016, N545JN taxiing in Munich, with the blood stains enlarged (Photo: Markus Schwab, a planespotter whose photograph of the aircraft in Munich showed blood stains on the right hand side of the fuselage - courtesy of the Aviation Herald)

The plane made what was initially referred to as an emergency landing at the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Ground staff became suspicious after noticing that blood dripping from the plane. The Zimbabwe Herald reported that "the ground crew refueling the plane alerted local authorities." The plane was discovered to be carrying 67 tonnes of South African cash. The plane and contents were impounded but later released, together with the crew. The Zimbabwean police reportedly stated that the autopsy of the body revealed no internal or external injuries, the death was result of lack of oxygen, and so finding nothing suspicious, they let the crew continue on their way.

The airline wrote: "During a routine fuel stop in Zimbabwe, a body was found in the lower compartment. The body is presumed to be a stowaway who may have entered the airplane during a previous stop. The situation is currently under review."

Ground staff gingerly approach the dead body in the hold.

Concerns

The story raises multiple red flags which readers may already be alert to. For one thing, multiple rewrites about the events are a bad sign, with an emergency landing later being described as a "routine fuel stop". The Aviation Herald published a report on 16 February 2016 which remarked that they "met this story with disbelief. Blood dripping off the aircraft after so many hours of flight? This detail alone shot the story down at an instant." Their report contains little interpretation but plenty of useful details.

Bloodstains

In Harare the blood stains were reported as coming from the severed arm of a dead man. This all seems a little unexpected if the ZImbabwean police narrative about his dying from lack of oxygen and lacking injuries is to be believed. If they are not to be believed, why not? Do central banks move cash around like this often? Do any controls or records exist?

Rating

19 August 2016 Robin  67 tons of cash and a body found on a CIA plane. Western media uninterested.
This is, particularly in light of other CIA plane events linked to the global illegal drug trade, not a story which should not be allowed to slip down the memory hole.

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