Plane Had Landed For Refueling In Salina

A pilot who made a fuel stop in Salina, Kansas in late September got a bit of a surprise when police seized over 100 pounds of cocaine from the airplane. Fortunately for the pilot, authorities determined that neither he or his co-pilot on the charter flight knew the drugs were on board.

The Salina Journal reports that drug-sniffing dogs alerted on two suitcases on board the aircraft. Officers who were given consent to search the plane found 105 pounds of coke on board, which has an estimated street value over $2 million. Lt. Jim Norton, commander of the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force in Kansas, said no arrests were made at the time of the find, and radio station KSAL reports Norton said the DEA requested that the pilots and passengers be allowed to re-board and depart the airport. One of the passengers on the plane, identified as Charles Ransom, has since been arrested in Hollywood, CA in connection with a cocaine distribution scheme.

Norton said there appears to me no connection between this seizure and one in which $5.5 million in cash was confiscated from an airplane in Salina October 13th. He said that cases investigated by the DEA have led to several major drug seizures at the airport over the past decade.

FMI: www.salina-ks.gov/content/126/193/1634/1469/8221/1701/default.aspx