Hernando County Sheriff's Office Recovers 200 Pounds Of Pot From Airplane, Suspects Remain At Large

The Hernando County, FL Sheriff's Office has broken up a major marijuana smuggling operation with the seizure of 200 pounds of pot from an airplane at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport.

Television station WPLG reports that local authorities received a tip from Homeland Security about a suspicious small airplane at the airport. Sheriff's deputies noticed the airplane in a hangar when they arrived on the scent. Two men, Joshua Overton, 32, of St. Petersburg, FL and 38-year-old Aaron Andrus of Chico, CA refused to allow the deputies to enter the hangar.

The Sheriff's office came back with a search warrant, and found the pot in the airplane, but not the two men. The marijuana has a street value of between $300,000 and $350,000 per pound, according to authorities, who are asking the two men to come forward.

Overton and Andrus face charges of trafficking marijuana over 25 pounds, conveyance of trafficking and possession of paraphernalia.

FMI: www.hernandosheriff.org