Aero Contractors Ltd., a private charter company based in Smithfield,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, is said by some to provide discreet air transport services for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA). The company was founded in 1979 by Jim Rhyne, a former pilot with Air America. The company has 26 planes and 79 employees and operates from the tiny Johnston Regional Airport.European Parliament Working Document No 4 on the flights operated by the CIA in Europe
/ref> On May 31, 2005, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that the company was heavily involved in

extraordinary rendition Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored Kidnapping, forcible abduction in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had t ...

, the transport of terrorism suspects to countries where they can be interrogated to extract information. An Aero Contractors plane was used in the transport of

Khalid El-Masri Khaled El-Masri (also Khalid El-Masri and Khaled Masri, Levantine Arabic pronunciation: , ar, خالد المصري) (born 29 June 1963) is a German and Lebanese citizen who was mistakenly abducted by the Macedonian police in 2003, and handed ov ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

citizen who was pulled from a bus on the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

- Macedonia border and held for three weeks. He was drugged and beaten before being flown to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on a

Boeing Business Jet Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) are versions of Boeing's jet airliners with modifications to serve the private, head of state and corporate jet market. In 1996, Phil Condit, president of The Boeing Company, and Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of Genera ...

operated by Aero Contractors. El-Masri was released after five months.C.I.A. Expanding Terror Battle Under Guise of Charter Flights
/ref> Aero Corporations allegedly operates under several different

shell companies A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

, including Stevens Express Leasing, Inc.,

Premier Executive Transport Services Premier Executive Transport Services was an airline listed as Foreign Corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is alleged to be a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to investigative journalists the com ...

, Aviation Specialties, Inc., Aero LLC (Wyoming) and Devon Holding and Leasing, Inc. A book published in September 2006, ''

Torture Taxi ''Torture Taxi'': ''On the Trail of the CIA's Rendition Flights'' is a 2006 book by A. C. Thompson and Trevor Paglen documenting the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The authors note the discovery of the program's means of transportation, ...

: On the Trail of the CIA Rendition Flights'' includes many details about Aero Contractors' involvement in

. In September 2018, th
North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture
released a report entitle
Torture Flights: North Carolina’s Role in the CIA Rendition and Torture Program
which detailed the history of the airport's activities with the rendition, detention and interrogation and the suggested

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

involved. The report is available on their website format.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Youtube video of protest at Aero Contractors, March 18, 2007 Johnston County AirportNCCIT
Airlines established in 1979 Companies based in North Carolina Central Intelligence Agency front organizations Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines based in North Carolina

See also

References

External links