When David Bennett decided to escape Canada’s icy winter with a weeklong trip to the Dominican Republic, he never imagined he’d be fighting to get back on Canadian soil for more than two months.
David Bennett was arrested in the Dominican Republic in February after he was accused of smuggling drugs. The charges were later withdrawn. The Canadian Press/HO – David Bennett
Bennett has finally returned to his Burlington, Ont., home after being arrested in the Caribbean country and accused of smuggling drugs. Even after the charges were withdrawn, he was stuck in the island nation for weeks due to court delays.
He’s now calling for more transparency from the federal government when it comes to assisting Canadians abroad.
Bennett, his wife Jane Wilcox and some friends were on their way home from a Dominican Republic resort on March 7 when he was denied entry at a Punta Cana airport’s automated customs gate, he said. He was taken to an interrogation room and initially thought it was just a brief misunderstanding.
There, he and Wilcox were shown a photo of a bag they didn’t recognize, with a slightly different name on it – Davi Bennett instead of David R. Bennett, he said. Though they were adamant the bag didn’t belong to him, he said he was charged with trafficking drugs into the Dominican and told he could face up to 30 years in prison.
“That was really scary and I was blown away. Like I was in disbelief that this was happening,” Bennett said in a phone interview Thursday, nearly two weeks after returning home.
“I certainly didn’t expect it to evolve into what it did, that’s for sure. Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen like that.”
Bennett recalled how he was handcuffed and later spent the night in a “small, overcrowded cell,” shoulder-to-shoulder with other detainees and sitting in a corner for nearly nine hours. He managed to get a lawyer – whom he could only communicate with through Google Translate – and Wilcox paid a $5,000 bail, he said.
He then spent the next several weeks bouncing around different accommodations as he and Wilcox fought to clear his name and get him back to Canada. When they learned the charges would be withdrawn, he was relieved, but only momentarily.
“We were told that it would take roughly 10 to 15 days for that withdrawal to become official through the signing of a court order. We were concerned with the time frame, but we were told that there’s a backlog in the system,” Bennett said. “So we said, well, what other choice do we have other than to remain patient?”
It took more than 15 days for the court order to be signed, he recalled, but then he was told it would take up to an additional two weeks for the travel ban to be lifted.
“My mental state was really rough those last five weeks waiting,” said Bennett. “The anticipation and the waiting was really the most difficult part.”
Meanwhile in Ontario, Wilcox was rallying as much support as she could, Bennett said, as she and other community members reached out to their local member of Parliament Karina Gould and Anita Anand, who is now foreign affairs minister.
On May 15, Bennett said he learned from Global Affairs Canada that his travel ban had been lifted through a verbal agreement with Dominican authorities, and they immediately booked a flight for the next day.
“We literally willed our way through at that point because the paperwork hadn’t been finalized yet. And we connected with Global Affairs Canada and told them that we’re going to the airport, please ensure the paperwork is there to support us,” he recalled.
The next day, when he boarded his plane to Toronto, he “never felt really comfortable” until the wheels left the tarmac.
Bennett says he wants Canadian officials to be more transparent in the steps they’re taking to help Canadians stuck abroad. The Canadian Press/HO-Jane Wilcox
“Even when I was on the aircraft, even though I was innocent, I had in the back of my mind, ’What’s going to go wrong here?’ Like something’s not going to work out here,” he said. “So I was really, really nervous for the entire time.”
The flight gave him an “amazing feeling,” he said, and his reunion with his wife was even better. In total, Bennett said he spent 71 days stuck in the Dominican, getting few hours of sleep, rapidly losing weight and ultimately racking up more than $80,000 in legal fees and accommodation costs.
Though he’s back home now, Bennett said he still has unanswered questions about what happened that day at the Punta Cana airport.
“I’d like to really fully understand what has transpired and how it transpired, how this can never happen in the future,” he said.
Bennett added he wants Canadian officials to be more transparent in the steps they’re taking to help Canadians stuck abroad. During his time in the Dominican, he and Wilcox were in communication with Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Embassy, he said, but officials gave them few updates or details on his case, which he called “frustrating.”
Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Embassy in the Dominican Republic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“I do believe Canadians deserve better,” Bennett said. “We need to be way more supportive of our Canadian citizens when they travel.”
For Canadians going abroad, Bennett said they should consider only taking a carry-on and if they check a bag, to keep track of the luggage tag. Bennett also recommends checking the federal government’s travel advisories before choosing a destination.
Now that he’s back in Canada, Bennett said he’s spending as much time with family as he can and taking steps to recover physically and mentally.
Before the incident, Bennett said he was never much of a traveller, but his detention has actually made him want to travel more.
“I have a little bit of a thirst for travel through this because I want to live my life and I want to enjoy,” said Bennett. “There’s so many beautiful places to see in this world and it hasn’t ruined my want to do more things.”
