Pilot arrested, helicopter seized in smuggling probe

[Heliport]

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Helicopter pilot, two others arrested in pot smuggling probe

LOOMIS, Wash. -- A helicopter pilot was arrested in Canada and two Washington state residents were also in custody after authorities seized 325 pounds of marijuana, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank T. Rogers said.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested the pilot and seized the chopper after he landed in British Columbia.

The arrests are the latest in a series of aerial pot smuggling attempts in recent months along the northcentral Washington county's sparsely populated 90-mile border with British Columbia. "It's like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps coming and coming," Rogers said.

He said a number of law enforcement agencies received reports Tuesday that a helicopter crossed the border illegally, left five hockey bags at Blue Lake, about 10 miles south of Loomis, and then took off again.



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[High Nr]

Flying high was he ??

Or dragging his skids through the weeds??

Either way, I guess he is off to the Joint??

[SASless]

Ah....smuggling Hockey Bags was he?

Silly fellows...all they have to do is walk across the border and no one would be the wiser. How many thousands of miles of unpatrolled and desolate stretches of border are there?

[Heliport]

It seems air transport is popular.

The report also said -

The arrests marked at least the fifth time authorities have intercepted airborne pot shipments since December. The previous four involved float planes.

On a fourth occasion, tribal police seized a float plane on the Columbia River March 14 after disabling it by hurling rocks at the propeller.

The pilot made it to the other side and eluded sheriff's deputies. A man believed to be the pilot was later spotted and arrested on the Colville reservation.

[Grainger]

When interviewed later, the pilot denied all knowledge of the incident, adding :

"Hey man . . . the dog's melting !! "

[alouette]

Hahaha, Dope you say...

I once worked for a company in some mountainious region. When I found out what his nite flight activities were, I bailed in the middle of the nite and went without saying "goodbye". We got to be really careful of what kind of cargo is on board sometimes. :E