THE Central Intelligence Agency is using aircraft subcontracted from fictitious companies for the transfer of terrorist suspects in different parts of the world, affirms today’s The New York Times, according to a report from EFE.

An analysis of thousands of registers of both aircraft and passengers, as well as business documents, and interviews with former CIA officials and pilots, reveal that the individuals are being detained for alleged terrorist activities. In some cases, according to these groups, men detained by the U.S. or its allies were handed over to countries where torture is practiced.

"Behind a surprisingly thin cover of rural hideaways, front companies and shell corporations that share officers who appear to exist only on paper, the CIA has rapidly expanded its air operations since 2001," adds the daily.

One of these firms, according to the Times, is Aero Contractors, founded in 1979 by "a legendary CIA officer and chief pilot for Air America, the agency's Vietnam-era air company, and it appears to be controlled by the agency."

"When the Central Intelligence Agency wants to grab a suspected member of Al Qaeda overseas and deliver him to interrogators in another country, an Aero Contractors plane often does the job," continues the article.

"If agency experts need to fly overseas in a hurry after the capture of a prized prisoner, a plane will depart Johnston County and stop at Dulles Airport outside Washington to pick up the CIA team on the way," states The Times.