Gregory Gillispie

The alleged international smuggling plot involving Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi’s son and Canadian consultant Cynthia Vanier continues to coil around itself like a snake. In pursuit of the story, Canada National Post writer Stewart Bell recently gained access to court records in Mexico City. Testimony obtained from the documents introduces yet another player, Christian Esquino, who has surfaced in connection to the plot.

Mexico’s case, which appears to be partially constructed on Esquino’s testimony, has resulted in the incarceration of Cynthia Vanier and Gabriel de Cueto, among others. Esquino, who has a checkered past, was also taken into custody two weeks ago.

Esquino is central to the scheme not simply because he gave testimony but because he owns a jet charter service that flies out of a town west of Mexico City. Planes used by Cynthia Vanier for international travel, including a Libyan fact-finding mission, are owned by Esquino.

According to the National Post, Esquino, a former San Diego resident, was “hounded” in the 1990s “by U.S. drug enforcement agents who suspected he was tied to the Tijuana cartel.” In 2004, he “pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit fraud involving aircraft.” After Esquino spent time in a United States prison, he was deported to Mexico.

Esquino told a federal agent that last August his wife received an email from Gabriela de Cueto, the National Post reported on March 20. The email, which was acquired by the Mexican government, appears to be laying the groundwork for the smuggling operation. The email contains the names of a family Vanier might be flying out of Libya on a future trip, as well as a scanned passport. The passport photo is of Gaddafi’s son.

What follows is a March 22 free-ranging interview with Gregory Gillispie in which he discusses what he knew about the circumstances leading up to the arrests. Gillispie owns a San Diego–based company called Veritas Worldwide Security, which the media has linked from the beginning to this increasingly contorted smuggling plot. Gillespie, who is named as a suspect, has stated that he only brokered the plane contracts.

Gillispie said that he owns several companies, one the security company called Veritas Worldwide Security and another a brokering service called GG Global Air, which was the company that brokered the plane lease with Cynthia Vanier. He said that Vanier contacted one of his business partners through an agent last year around July 7. Vanier was going on a fact-finding mission to Libya and wanted to rent a plane that was not registered in the United States.

“I know multiple aircraft charter services,” Gillispie said, “and the cheapest by far was from Mexico.”

Gillispie and his partner Gabriela de Cueto, a Coronado resident whose nickname is Gabby, contacted Christian Esquino to negotiate the rental of one of his jets.

“I did not know Christian Esquino,” Gillispie said. “The first time I ever contacted or spoke to Christian Esquino was about a week to ten days prior to when Cindy [Vanier] and the crew made the trip. Gabby had known Mr. Esquino for about ten years. She was best friends with his wife, Bertha. Christian, Bertha, Gabby lived in Coronado.

“Christian had been investigated in the United States for being associated with the Félix Arellano cartel and for buying old airplanes from the Mexican Department of Agriculture, repainting them, creating bogus logs, and reselling the planes to people in the United States. One plane crashed. Seized up. So they arrested Christian, and he ended up spending two years in Lompoc.

“When Christian got out, he was deported, in 2007. Then the Mexicans arrested him. He spent one day in jail, and he escaped, he’s on the lam. In Mexico he operates under the name of Eduardo Nuñez. His full name is Christian Eduardo Esquino Nuñez.

“He now operates a jet-service business out of Toluca, where the executive jets land for Mexico City.”

Gillispie said he initially thought that Cynthia Vanier was a representative of the Canadian government.

“She wanted an airplane on very short notice. She made the initial payment of $145,000, owed me $81,000. She refused to pay that money. The money she paid was the money I owed Christian. The $81,000 was for brokering.” Gillispie talked to his partners, who “were willing to go down to $51,000 — for making a couple of phone calls.”

Cynthia Vanier left on July 17 for the ten-day fact-finding trip to Libya, flying in a Hawker 800 jet owned by Christian Esquino. After she returned, Gillispie said, “Cindy wanted to meet us. Wanted to meet us for a long-term contract.”

On August 10, Gillispie and his partners met Cynthia Vanier at the Region of Waterloo International Airport, known as the Kitchener airport.

“Cindy complained that the first flight was horrible — airplane too small. If we could forgive $50,000, she would offer us a 12-month contract. I thought I would roll the $81,000 back into the yearlong contract.

“We left Canada, and we talked to Christian about a full-year Gulfstream and a smaller airplane on-call in Kosovo. We negotiated a deal for $9 million, with $3 million profit [for Gillispie and partners]. It took us a couple of days to agree to all the variations that were possible for a contract lasting up to 12 months long.

“The contract was presented to Cindy in mid-August. Gabby and I returned to Kitchener on the 24th of August to deliver a Gulfstream III aircraft and the completed contract. Cindy opted to take the 9-month option and signed the contract for a Gulfstream and a Citation. Gas was on top of the contract price.

“The aircraft and pilots were left with her. The pilots were directed not to fly her or any of her people until we received the first payment. It was on approximately the 28th that we received the wire transfer.

“During the next month, Cindy flew three times to Mexico, where she owned property. This worked well, as the plane was registered in Mexico, so Christian could do maintenance in Mexico per law.

“At the end of the month, she did not pay for the next month, plus she didn’t pay for the jet fuel for those three trips.

“I told her we’re suspending the contract. Christian wants money for jet fuel.… Gabby and I flew down to meet Cindy face-to-face around September 22 or 23.

“I got into a heated argument with Cindy. She cried. She wanted to talk woman-to-woman with Gabby. Gabby stayed down there — she has family.

“Then Cindy does another deal with Christian, cutting us out of the deal.

“She flew back to Canada, still owing us money and still owing Christian money.”

On October 10, Gillispie and his partners, including Gabriela de Cueto and a Danish man named Pierre Flensborg, flew to Zurich, and from there to Istanbul, Turkey; northern Iraq; and Pristina, Kosovo, on a two-week trip to negotiate contracts to import sugar, oil, and airplanes.

“Christian was going to fly us, and we could cut him in on the contracts. He would meet us in Europe. We booked round-trip tickets to Zurich.”

But, in the meantime, there had been a falling out between Gabriela de Cueto and Christian Esquino.

“Well, three days before the trip, Christian bailed. Do you know how expensive short-term tickets are?”

Gabriela de Cueto was angry that Christian Esquino had changed his mind about making the trip.

“An anonymous call was made to the Mexican government questioning maintenance on Christian’s planes. Christian thought Gabby was involved. Now he can’t fly to Argentina or the U.S. — big dent in his income. While we are in Iraq, Gabby gets an email from Christian saying, ‘I know you’re behind this. Call your dogs off.’

“After we get back from Iraq, Gabby and Pierre fly to New York to bridge finances. Bertha [Christian Esquino’s wife] loaned Gabby $100,000 for the trip. Christian doesn’t know this.

“Gabby is still in contact with Cindy. We wanted our money. Cindy emails Gabby that she’ll have the money on November 8th or 9th. Cindy said she would pay us all.

“Gabby was planning on visiting Mom in Mexico. Pierre was going to Brazil afterward, in connection with the sugar deal — Iraqis love sugar and pay way above market level for it.

“After Gabby and Pierre take care of business in New York, they go on to Mexico City to meet Cindy.

“Gabby calls Bertha [Christian Esquino’s wife] on November 8 to tell her of the impending trip to Mexico City. That same night, the Mexican authorities receive an email from Anonymous [an international hacker ring] about the human trafficking plan. Then Gabby calls Bertha on the evening of the 10th, once she arrives in Mexico City, and informs her about the meeting the next morning with Cindy. That night, the Mexican authorities receive a second Anonymous email detailing a meeting set for the next morning between Cindy and Gabby. That information was only transmitted over the phone between Gabby and Bertha, so it could not have been gotten from a hacked email by the Anonymous group, as claimed by the Mexican government.

“Federales arrested Gabby in the morning.”

Christian Esquino “was taken into custody by Mexican authorities” on March 17, according to the National Post. Asked why Esquino is now in jail, Gillispie said:

“Someone tipped the Mexican government off that Nuñez is Esquino. According to Mexican law, a criminal is not allowed to testify. How can they take his testimony? They won’t use evidence from a criminal.”

Why were Gabriela de Cueto and the others arrested?

“This is politically motivated. People high in the Mexican government think so.”

Could someone have fabricated the email with the passport photo of Saadi Gaddafi that allegedly came from Gabriela de Cueto’s email account?

“Could be. Through Veritas Security we are doing security in Mexico City for a high-ranking official in the Mexican government. They don’t even trust their own security.”

Although Gillispie is a suspect in the case, he said that the Mexican government had made no attempt to contact him. He recently took a polygraph test to prove his innocence of any involvement in a plot to smuggle Saadi Gaddafi into Mexico.

“Took a polygraph. Off the charts — 99.72 for truthfulness regarding human trafficking and all those charges.”

Gillispie is a decorated, retired Marine master gunnery sergeant, and he said he is tired of being called “a friggin’ mercenary.”