Paraguay releases Jamaican Pilot Jabari Brown after finding no link to seized marijuana

Paraguay: Jamaican-American pilot Jabari Brown was briefly detained in Paraguay after authorities seized 261.6 kilograms of marijuana, valued at around $3.6 million, from a private aircraft he was co-piloting. He was released shortly afterward, after Jalil Rachid, Executive Secretary of Paraguay’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat, said the Public Prosecutor’s Office found no evidence linking Brown to the seizure. Officials confirmed he was not involved in the case.

According to the information by local authorities, the private aircraft arrived in Paraguay from Miami on Saturday, with a stopover in Panama City. Following the plane’s arrival, an operation was carried out at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport by Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat, known as SENAD, resulting in the seizure of approximately 261.6 kilograms of high-THC marijuana. 

The drugs were reportedly hidden inside several black hard-shell cases that resembled musical instrument cases. 

Brown was taken into custody at a hotel in Asuncion on Saturday night and was the fourth person detained during the investigation. Three US nationals identified as Marisol Rivas, 39, from New York, Troy Anthony Vasquez, 42, from Florida, and David Thomas Wise, 58, from California, were also arrested and later charged with international drug trafficking. The main pilot was identified as Keith Siilats, an Estonian national, who left Paraguay shortly after the aircraft landed and could not be located during the investigation.

Notably, after winning MrBeast’s 2025 YouTube Challenge, ‘100 Pilots Fight for a Private Jet’, where contestants competed in a series of aviation-based tasks, Brown gained widespread attention and came to be known as ‘Captain Treezy’. This incident drew significant attention because of Brown’s popularity on social media, with many followers and supporters reacting online after reports of his detention surfaced. Several social media users shared messages of support and encouragement following news of his release. Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate the case and question those connected to this incident.