‘Living nightmare’: Wife of Burlington man accused of Dominican Republic drug trafficking speaks out

A Burlington woman is holding on to hope that her husband’s alleged erroneous drug trafficking ordeal in the Dominican Republic will soon be over.

David Bennett has been trapped in the Caribbean country ever since he was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking, with his wife saying he’s completely innocent.

This was day thirty-two for Bennett — thirty-two days since he was arrested at the Punta Cana airport as he was preparing to fly home from a Dominican Republic vacation.

Bennett’s wife Jane Wilcox is keeping a notebook on what happens day-to-day, and wonders when it’s going to end.

“Day 26, day 22, comments, just words and work on we’ve be doing … it’s a living nightmare. It’s a living nightmare until David comes home.”

Bennett and his wife and friends were preparing to fly back to Canada when he was taken aside at the Punta Cana airport, into an interrogation room.

Authorities questioned him about a bag containing drugs with a tag on it similar to his name, but not exactly the same.

“It’s clear as day that we were never in possession or near a bag like that,” says Wilcox.

Wilcox says he had nothing to do with the bag.

READ MORE: Burlington man detained in Dominican Republic on ‘bogus’ drug charges

“All we know from the evidence is that Dave was never seen with the yellow bag in the Toronto airport, and we never saw one when we were in the Dominican either,” adds Wilcox.

At first Bennett was jailed. He’s since been released but can’t leave the Dominican Republic while he waits for his day in court in front of a judge.

His wife says the RCMP have sent the prosecutors evidence from the Toronto airport that should help, and hopes the authorities will drop the charges for lack of evidence.

In the meantime, she visited him last week.

“It was really intense and beautiful to get back together physically, but gut wrenching to leave,” says Wilcox.

There’s an outpouring of support for Bennett in Burlington, with a fundraising event and a GiveSendGo page raising $48,000 between them, enough to pay their legal and travel expenses so far.

“People are telling us that they think of us every day. I think people can really relate that it could have been them, this could have happened to anybody, it’s so random that people want to help because if it was the other way around and they were in that position they’d want people to help them too,” Wilcox says.

Saturday will be Bennett’s 57th birthday. And his wife is holding on to hope that he could come home then.

“He’s exhausted. He is so ready to come home,” says Wilcox.

Bennett’s wife is hoping the prosecutors will see there isn’t enough evidence for a conviction and let him come home.

If that doesn’t happen, Bennett still doesn’t have a date set for a preliminary hearing where a judge could assess the evidence.

The legal process is taking longer than expected.