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Catch me if you can? More like catch you, they did. A man dressed as a commercial airline pilot was arrested at a Colombian airport after allegedly trying to board a flight with 22 pounds of cocaine strapped to his body.
The suspect entered El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá on July 13 wearing the uniform of a pilot from an international airline.
However, officers reportedly became suspicious because the uniform did not fit properly and several of his accessories did not match those typically worn by commercial pilots.
Local reports identified the man as Spanish national Carlos Barbería Hernando. He was allegedly attempting to board a flight headed for Barcelona, Spain.
Body scanner exposes fake pilot’s cocaine disguise
After pulling him aside, officers from the Colombian National Police’s Anti-Narcotics division reportedly put the suspect through a body scanner.
The scan allegedly revealed 10 kilograms, or approximately 22 pounds, of cocaine hidden beneath his uniform.
#EsNoticia | ¡Cayó “falso piloto” en El Dorado!
Un ciudadano extranjero fue capturado en el Aeropuerto El Dorado cuando intentaba abordar un vuelo hacia Barcelona usando un uniforme de piloto comercial para hacerse pasar por tripulante de una aerolínea internacional.
Sin… pic.twitter.com/btYN9WEKAh
— Policía de Colombia (@PoliciaColombia) July 13, 2026
Footage released by Colombian police shows officers removing white tape and multiple packages from around the man’s torso. More packages were reportedly concealed inside his trouser legs.
Although authorities described him as a “fake pilot,” Spanish records reportedly showed that Barbería Hernando had completed some pilot training years earlier. However, he was not listed as a licensed pilot and had no record of working professionally in the aviation industry.
Brigadier General William Castaño Ramos, director of Colombia’s Anti-Narcotics Police, said the seizure stopped approximately 25,000 doses of cocaine from reaching the international market.
Barbería Hernando was taken into custody and accused of trafficking, manufacturing or possessing narcotics.
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Investigators are now attempting to determine where the cocaine originated, its intended destination in Europe, and whether the suspect had taken part in similar smuggling operations before.
This isn’t the first time a fake pilot has been captured in recent years. Earlier this year, a Canadian man was accused of posing as airline crew to score hundreds of free flights over several years.
In 2025, a Florida man was caught posing as a flight attendant to book over 120 free flights.
