An FYI for anyone planning on booking a cheap Southern Winds flight. Not sure of the ramifications, but it sure doesn't sound good. Drug smuggling allegations at the highest levels of the company. If the conspiracy actually involves the President, you might think the whole company would be in jeopardy.
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Argentina Airline Execs Charged With Drug Trafficking


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
February 14, 2005 10:21 a.m.

BUENOS AIRES -- Two officials at closely held Argentine airline Southern Winds have been charged with drug trafficking after unclaimed suitcases containing 60 kilograms of cocaine were placed on a flight to Madrid.

The Associated Press' Spanish-language service reported Monday that Southern Winds' marketing manager, Fernando Pablo Arrieto, as well as the airline's base chief at Ezeiza international airport, Fernando Baudino, have been detained and charged in federal court. A third employee, Walter Beltrame, a Southern Winds employee in charge of frequent flyer customer service and also the son of the chief of Ezeiza airport, remains a fugitive, according to the AP.

Local daily La Nacion broke the story of the investigation in its Sunday edition, claiming exclusive access to legal documents in the case. The newspaper report said four suitcases, addressed to the Argentine embassy in Spain, were found unclaimed on the baggage claim at Barajas International Airport after a Southern Winds flight to Madrid in September. Officials opened the suitcases and found 60 kilograms of cocaine, estimated at 1.5 million euros, in a hidden compartment, according to the newspaper report.

La Nacion, citing the court documents, said the four suitcases had been placed in a preferential airline compartment for flight crew luggage, which is unloaded first. The newspaper said Southern Winds President Juan Maggio, who is also under investigation, testified that Beltrame asked the four suitcases to be checked in on behalf of two frequent flyers, who are currently in Spanish prison for another drug trafficking case and were not on the flight. Southern Winds Vice President Enrique Montero, who was on the flight, was detained but has not been charged.

The Argentine embassy in Spain has denied any involvement in the matter, according to media reports. The AP quoted a Southern Winds statement as saying "airlines are often the target of this kind of crime, and because of that, the company headed the accusation that started the investigation."

Southern Winds receives fuel subsidies from the government as part of a September 2003 agreement brokered with state-run airline LAFSA. Officials created LAFSA to provide jobs for 800 former workers at financially troubled carriers Lapa and Dinar. As part of the Southern Winds-LAFSA alliance, the private carrier granted some infrastructure-sharing rights to the state airline.

Aerolineas Argentinas (AR.YY), which controls about 85% of the local market, has criticized the Southern Winds-LAFSA alliance for giving Southern Winds an unfair advantage over other private carriers.