Ontario man recounts 'shock' after alleged 'set up' in Dominican Republic

A Canadian man is back home after a months-long ordeal in the Dominican Republic due to a case of mistaken identity and false charges.

David Bennett is now back in his home of Burlington after spending over two months in the Caribbean. Bennett was welcomed home by his wife Jane Wilcox, who had started a fundraiser and campaigned to bring her husband home.

"I'm still recuperating, and in many ways feeling more tired now than I was when I first arrived home," he wrote in an email. "However, I'm positive that things will settle down over the next several days and weeks. But being back on Canadian soil is the best feeling ever."

Arrested abroad

The nightmare started for the couple on March 7 as they made their way back to Canada after a vacation with friends in Punta Cana.

"First part of the vacation was great," recalled Bennett. "Jane and I were with our good friends, and we hung by the pool and on the beach, had some great meals, played cards, listened to some great music, played a lot of tennis, and had some great laughs throughout."

However, he said he was detained at the airport, and that the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) didn't explain why he was being held.

"[They] weren't saying much as we were not offered a translator and they could not speak English," he explained. "They simply showed us a photo on a phone of a yellow bag and a bag tag with the name Davi Bennett, and they asked us through Google Translate if this was my bag. We immediately said no."

Bennett recalls how they continued to question him without a translator until they finally read him his rights through Google Translate — he was being charged for importing drugs.

"I was in complete shock and had no clue what had transpired, other than it appears I was set up via the yellow bag that they showed me with the name similar to mine," he recalled.

He claims that authorities then handcuffed him and walked him back and forth through arrivals and took pictures of him in front of people arriving on flights.

"It was humiliating," he said. "Several days later, I learned through Jane that they posted these photos on their Instagram account."

Bennett said it was a horrible feeling seeing his wife leave, but that he knew she'd be in a better position to help from Canada. He said that he had been unwell during the last two days of their trip, and when he was detained, he had asked to be taken to the hospital.

"They simply laughed at me and refused," he said.

Bennett then spent the night in a jail cell at a police station, which he said was overcrowded and smelled due to an overflowing toilet.

"[It] almost made me sick to my stomach," he said.

He was then transferred to another facility where he was held for two days.

"The conditions were better in the second jail facility, but also overcrowded," said Bennett. "The people I shared the jail cells with were friendly, though, and everyone I interacted with over the 72 hours made me feel safe; there was a sense that we were all in this together. My goal right away was to make immediate friends with everyone via a fist bump. Everyone complied."

He said that other terrifying experiences stood out while he was detained, such as being driven at 130 km/hour in a pickup truck.

"I was convinced they were going to lose control of the truck and roll the vehicle," he said. "I was crammed in the backseat with no seatbelt on. It was a scary, helpless feeling."

Months of uncertainty

After being detained for three days, he was finally released on bail on March 10.

To the couple's relief, they found out that the charges against Bennett were being withdrawn on April 14; however, due to the backlog, the charges weren't officially dropped until May 2. That was when they found out it would take another one to two weeks for the travel ban to be lifted, another process that was delayed due to a backlog in the system.

Wilcox said that they had spent around $80,000 on legal and living expenses during the two months since her husband was detained.

During the 71 days he spent alone in the Dominican Republic, Bennett said he moved to different Airbnbs and hotel rooms nine times, but barely left his accommodations.

"It was difficult, as I did not feel overly comfortable out in public the entire time I was there, as I knew that the Dominican Republic authorities had posted my name and photo on their Instagram account," he said. “"here was also a local news story about the arrest, so I felt like I could be recognized and perhaps harassed."

He said he spent three to five hours on FaceTime calls with his wife, worked out, read, listened to podcasts, and did some work. The couple works in communications and PR. He also spent time communicating with his legal team in Canada.

"Even though I wasn't behind bars beyond the first 72 hours, the remaining 68 days certainly felt like a form of jail time. And the stress of the entire situation simply intensified with every passing day," said Bennett.

"In the 71 days I was there, I missed my mother's 82nd birthday, my parents' 61st wedding anniversary, my own birthday, Easter, my late sister's birthday, and Mother's Day."

The long journey home

After two months, the couple received an email from Global Affairs Canada informing them that the travel ban would be lifted by May 16. Wilcox immediately contacted WestJet to book Bennett's flight on the same day. At the airport, he was briefly held in the same interrogation room for around 15 minutes, until the paperwork was finalized and he was allowed to proceed through customs and to the departure gate.

"It was exciting, but a little nerve-racking, as it wasn't until the wheels lifted up off the ground in the Dominican Republic that I felt like it was really happening," he said.

"The flight home was really smooth throughout, and we arrived a little quicker than expected; roughly 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The arrival, with visuals of Lake Erie, Niagara Region, and Lake Ontario, was spectacular as it was a bright and sunny evening. I will never forget the feeling when I realized we were minutes away from touching down."

Now back home, he said he's grateful for his "super solid" lawyer in the Dominican Republic who ensured he was in a safe situation. He's also grateful to his Canadian lawyer, several local clubs who offered support, and people who helped raise funds for the couple.

But most of all, he's grateful for his wife's support.

"She worked tirelessly day after day with the legal team in Canada, she conducted media interview after media interview, spent three to five hours a day on video calls with me, and all the while was not sleeping very well at all herself, and barely keeping her own head above water," said Bennett. "But that's who she is, and has always been."

Wilcox said that having her husband back has been "magical."

"Our love is stronger than ever, and our life together will be richer because of this experience. I've been focused on nourishing Dave with healthy food, lots of love and rest. We're enjoying special moments with our family, good friends, and our beloved dog, Jada," she said.

"We have a lot of time to make up for and look forward to celebrating every moment and giving back to our community, which has given us so much through this. We are so grateful."

However, looking back on their experience with Global Affairs, Wilcox said communication with the department was "disappointing."

"We received conflicting communication and a lot of disinformation throughout. We felt like we kept receiving templated responses to our questions and concerns," she said. "They didn't answer our questions and seemed misinformed. We believe Canadians deserve better treatment from our federal government."

We have reached out to Global Affairs for a statement.

When asked what he missed the most about Canada, Bennett said that he missed spring and the outdoors.

"I've never complained even once in my life about living in this great country, and I now appreciate it even more than ever," he shared.