A Ukrainian cargo plane held in the Caribbean over undeclared explosives has been cleared to leave and fly on toward Libya, Voice of Emirates reported. Investigators from several national and international agencies examined the shipment and the crew before deciding no one aboard would face charges. The aircraft had landed only to refuel on a long route across the Atlantic.
Cleared to fly on
Authorities issued final permission for the plane and crew to leave and head toward North Africa, after questioning cleared the pilot and co-pilot of responsibility for what officials called a documentary error by the cargo company. Suspilne said that the investigators held the Ukrainian crew responsible for the load.
The An-12B, flight CVK-7078, belongs to Cavok Air, a Kyiv-based Ukrainian cargo airline. Tracking data cited by Militarnyi showed it departed on 16 May 2026, flying northeast.
What stopped the plane
The plane had stopped to refuel on 14 May 2026, en route from the Bahamas to Libya via Cape Verde. Immigration officers found explosives that had not been declared, the airport authority stated. The crew had listed the cargo as nil, Trinidad Express reported.
Officials detained the aircraft and its eight-member Ukrainian crew for 24 hours. Customs, airport police, and United States border investigators examined the load, with help from AIRCOP, a UN-backed airport interdiction program against illicit trafficking.
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander told parliament the plane carried "several tons of prohibited dangerous items." He said there was no threat to the public.
Trinidad Express reported the haul weighed 7,656 kilograms, labeled as oilwell explosives under the dangerous-goods code UN0440. A senior officer told Guardian Media the crew gave "reasonable answers," linking the material to mining, quarrying, and underwater work.
A shadow war in the background
Libya is where Ukraine and Russia have been fighting quietly for influence. RFI reported in April that more than 200 Ukrainian personnel were operating from three sites in western Libya with the Tripoli government's approval. It tied them to a drone strike on the Arctic Metagaz, a tanker in Russia's sanctions-evading shadow fleet. Kyiv has not acknowledged any presence there.
Russia backs Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army in the country's east. His forces were recently spotted with modern Russian T-72B3M tanks and BMP-3M fighting vehicles.
