Citation Shares Pilot Busted Smuggling Drugs

[414Flyer]

Yes he was a beechjet pilot that had duffles full of esctasy.. they would stop in Remstein and load up. He did a few such run with over 1 million tablets each time. He only got 40k a load from what i heard.


Want a good read:

Trafficking by Berkley Rice

A late 80's book about the Air America Drug Ring that was based in Wilkes Barre Scranton PA.. I personally know many of his former mechanics and engineers that worked there in the 80's.

They could get 612 gallons of 100ll on a cessna 310.. Rick Lutyjes would haul drugs back from Colombia and then fly down there with millions of dollars going back to the cartel. He would have up to 2 or 3 diffeerent planes running and in addition to the 1-1.5 million he would make off his runs he would charge his other guys 500,000 to 1mil per run.. Guy was making 3 million a weekend.

Unlike the other drug runners that were operating junk planes their planes were top notch.. It was not uncommon for them to buy a nice 310 and then spend $150,000 making it perfect. A engine could have 50 hrs on it and if the filters didnt look good or any other reason they would yank the engines with new. At the time they also had state of the art VLF OMEGA nav systems.. Sorry I am sure many have just heard that term for the first time.

They also has grids set up of the atlantic and radio operators monitoring their discreet transmissions. There was a helio courier on floats that was always on standby in FL in case they went down over the ocean.

They would pop up in the NYC airspace and it was near impossible to track them from that point.

After getting out of jail he did ocean exploration for a while. I ran into him about 6 years ago in PBI he was flying a PC12.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/07/books/he-parked-his-conscience-in-the-hangar.html

http://www.amazon.com/Trafficking-Boom-Bust-America-Cocaine/dp/0684190249

Apparently this guy was hired at the company I work for, but since let go. Company did not check background, they had no clue. And no one would have known, except that he starting making too many waves so to speak and trying to get himself into things he had no business doing. Then people got nosy and found out his past.

If he had just flown and kept this mouth shut and quit sticking his neck out, no would would have been the wiser. But apparently a real good pilot, knows his stuff.

 

[clickclickboom]

Apparently this guy was hired at the company I work for, but since let go. Company did not check background, they had no clue. And no one would have known, except that he starting making too many waves so to speak and trying to get himself into things he had no business doing. Then people got nosy and found out his past.

If he had just flown and kept this mouth shut and quit sticking his neck out, no would would have been the wiser. But apparently a real good pilot, knows his stuff.

Are you talking about the Luytjes guy from the 80's? I never met the guy but knew who he was. You know when you see someone and you are racking your brain trying to figure out who they are and a few days later the light bulb goes on?

 

[414Flyer]

Are you talking about the Luytjes guy from the 80's? I never met the guy but knew who he was. You know when you see someone and you are racking your brain trying to figure out who they are and a few days later the light bulb goes on?

yes. I did not meet him, he was out here in this project out in middle east before I got here. Sharp guy, but apparently kept trying to stick his neck out where it did not belong. If he had just kept to being a pilot, would have been fine. But I was told he started trying to secretly meet with other people out here to start up and run a similar type project that would almost compete against this one, the company owner was livid and let him go.

Then all the other stuff came to light.

 

[clickclickboom]

Man I live a remarkably unexciting normal life. Wife, Kids, Work, Bills, Taxes...

Thats about it..

 

[blueridge71]

My DEA buddies say that they are lucky if they catch 1 out of every 100 planes that cross the border illegally. Sad...

Thats pretty disturbing in itself. An unidentified aircraft has a 99% chance of successfully getting through and we have no idea what it is carrying. You'd better hope its drugs and not al Qaeda airlines with a cargo of C4 in their carry-ons.

Remind me again: what is it that we're paying all those government types for?

 

[glasspilot]

Remind me again: what is it that we're paying all those government types for?

To make us feel better?

 

[satpak77]

17 Years

I'm surprised no one has brought up the Flight Options pilot that got caught hauling ecstasy on a C5 he crewed in the reserves. I'm sure someone will chime in with the details. This was several years ago and i think he got convicted and sent to prison for a long time.

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/nyc101306a.html

 

[TheBigMan]

08-06-2009

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/attorney_owner_of_pot-filled_plane_had_no_knowledge_of_its_use

Attorney: Owner of pot-filled plane had no knowledge of its use

Published: August 6, 2009

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A Dickson City businessman who owns a twin-engine plane seized last month in Arkansas with more than 400 pounds of marijuana aboard had no involvement in or knowledge of the alleged trafficking scheme, his attorney said.
Police in Walnut Ridge, Ark., arrested two Harrisburg area men when the pot-laden Cessna 310 owned by Michael M. Murphy stopped there to refuel July 20.
Mr. Murphy, who is trying to sell the 22-year-old aircraft and had granted permission for a prospective buyer to take it for an extended test flight, is outraged by the incident, his attorney, Gregory J. Pascale, said.
"Mike is against drugs in any shape or form," Mr. Pascale said. "It's very distressing for him."
Acting on a tip from the Department of Homeland Security, police discovered 419 pounds of marijuana - bundled in roughly 24-pound bales and packed inside luggage - after the plane landed at Walnut Ridge Airport, Walnut Ridge Detective David Burnside said.
The aircraft was en route from Tucson, Ariz., to Harrisburg, he said. Two of the six seats had been removed to make room for the marijuana, which emitted such a strong odor that it was easily detectable outside the plane, he said.
Pilot Heath M. Gephart and passenger Mark Sweigart, both 35, were charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia, Detective Burnside said.
Efforts to reach Mr. Murphy, owner of Red Line Towing Co. and several other businesses, were unsuccessful.
But Mr. Pascale said Mr. Murphy wants to upgrade to a larger aircraft and had placed the Cessna up for sale, working through a broker in Hilton Head, S.C. He declined to identify the broker.
The broker arranged for a potential buyer to "demo" the plane, which is "not atypical" before an aircraft is sold, the attorney said.
Mr. Gephart picked up the aircraft during the first week of July at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, where Mr. Murphy has a hangar, Mr. Pascale said.
"It was thought to be absolutely zero-risk when Mike let these guys take the plane," Mr. Pascale said, adding the broker has known Mr. Gephart for years. "There were no red flags."
The plane was supposed to be returned July 13 or 14, and Mr. Murphy was obviously concerned when it was not, he said. Both Mr. Murphy and the broker tried unsuccessfully to contact Mr. Gephart, but even then the broker assured Mr. Murphy the aircraft "was in good hands and not to worry about it."
After he learned about the arrests in Arkansas, Mr. Murphy contacted Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola.
"He called me to say, 'Where should I go? Who should I talk to?' " said Mr. Jarbola, who advised Mr. Murphy to contact federal authorities.
Mr. Pascale said Mr. Murphy then notified the FBI.
"They did have permission to take the plane, but they were supposed to bring it back," said Mr. Pascale, who described Mr. Murphy as "an innocent victim of a crime."
Detective Burnside, who identified Mr. Murphy as the registered owner of the plane, did not believe anybody in his department has spoken to Mr. Murphy or received official confirmation that the aircraft was stolen.
"The pilot said he had borrowed the plane," the detective said.
Walnut Ridge police are still investigating, working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of Homeland Security, Detective Burnside said. Mr. Gephart and Mr. Sweigart are due in court Aug. 24 to enter formal pleas.
In the meantime, he said, the state of Arkansas has moved to take possession of the plane under a law that permits the seizure of vehicles "that are used to transport drugs or anything of that nature." It is now being stored at a hangar owned by the city of Walnut Ridge.
Mr. Pascale said Mr. Murphy will fight any attempt to forfeit the aircraft.
"Once they are finished with their investigation, we expect to get it back," he said.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story misspelled Mr. Pascale's last name.
Contact the writer: [email protected]

 

[glasspilot]

I hope this guys gets his plane back. If he doesn't it would be a gross injustice.

 

[RCR5]

What a waste.

Looks like his career went up in smoke.