Drug runners and Cessnas

Gee where were those database weenies who called for the felony takedown of John and Martha King on this one? ;)

I'm sitting here wondering what a "suspicious" duffel bag looks like, though.
 
On the upside, anyone looking for a ex-drug mule Cessna should be able to pick one up for cheap at the soon-to-be-held police auction!
 
denverpilot said:
Gee where were those database weenies who called for the felony takedown of John and Martha King on this one? ;)

I'm sitting here wondering what a "suspicious" duffel bag looks like, though.
Click to expand...

It says "Machine Parts" stencilled on the side.
 
Almost $3,900/lb at street prices. Must be good stuff.
 
Might be a good deal.

210, listed in the FAA Database as "Sale Reported", so it might be a very recent addition to the drug mule fleet.
 
denverpilot said:
...I'm sitting here wondering what a "suspicious" duffel bag looks like, though.
Click to expand...

Same here.

Interestingly, this wouldn't have happened in Colorado. There has to be "reasonable suspicion" before a drug dog can be used here, at least by a non-Federal agency (this was the Nashville PD, it looks like). No possible way is a report of "I saw an airplane and there were [gasp] duffel bags taken off of it" reasonable suspicion of anything.

That's not true for the rest of the country, though - you're subject to a dog sniff regardless of whether there is any suspicion.

Also, I'm reminded of a scene from Super Troopers. :)
 
Crime must be way down in Nashville for them to make such a hullabaloo over a few pounds of pot. It looks to me that they were more interested in publicity and getting possession of that airplane. That Cessna will bring a heck of a lot more money than the pot ever would.

The cops have seventeen pounds of pot, must have been really small duffel bags. They got a Cessna airplane, and twenty thousand cash, I'd call that a good day for the Nashville police.

Looking at this from a California perspective, I'm wondering just who the bad guys are in this case?

Finding the car at a "strip club" sounds a little bit like cop hyperbole to me.

John
 
Telemakhos said:
On the upside, anyone looking for a ex-drug mule Cessna should be able to pick one up for cheap at the soon-to-be-held police auction!
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly (says the airplaneless). Where does one find such "credible" auctions?
 
I'm not sure about this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but since that airplane was used in the interstate transportation of narcotics, shouldn't the feds have possession of it?

John
 
John Baker said:
I'm not sure about this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but since that airplane was used in the interstate transportation of narcotics, shouldn't the feds have possession of it?

John
Click to expand...

Only if they choose to. If as you say it is such a puny case why should they bother :rolleyes:

By the way the 17 lbs is what they had after they made their Nashville sale and were headed to NO. I imagine their Nashville connection has an indictment in their future.
 
Obi Heed Kenobi said:
There has to be "reasonable suspicion" before a drug dog can be used here, at least by a non-Federal agency (this was the Nashville PD, it looks like). No possible way is a report of "I saw an airplane and there were [gasp] duffel bags taken off of it" reasonable suspicion of anything.
Click to expand...

What wasn't in the press release (maybe)?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Even with history, that kind of flying will get the attention of DHS. Ask me how I know...
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly they rather pulled the same stunt on you, you continent-trotting suspicious person you. I'd go find the thread, but I am far to ambitiously challenged.
 
Jaybird180 said:
My thoughts exactly (says the airplaneless). Where does one find such "credible" auctions?
Click to expand...

I guess you could contact Nashville PD. I don't have any idea what it would take to get a clear title on a seized aircraft, though. I doubt you'd get any of the logs, either. But if you had cash in your pocket, maybe you could get a deal.
 
Trapper John said:
I guess you could contact Nashville PD. I don't have any idea what it would take to get a clear title on a seized aircraft, though. I doubt you'd get any of the logs, either. But if you had cash in your pocket, maybe you could get a deal.
Click to expand...


In TN there is a civil process to contest the seizure. But often as part of a pleas bargain on the criminal charges the seizure goes uncontested.

As to the auction part... http://ebid.nashville.gov/
 
steingar said:
Drop in the bucket compared to the War on Drugs. All of it utterly ineffectual.
Click to expand...

Meanwhile, the government could turn it around and make more money on it than cigarettes while probably decreasing usage.

Oh wait, that would be logical.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Meanwhile, the government could turn it around and make more money on it than cigarettes while probably decreasing usage.

Oh wait, that would be logical.
Click to expand...

No it would just be intelligent, which Americans apparently aren't. They couldn't even legalize marijuana in California, not enough folks wanted it. The one problem with Democracy is people tend to get the government they deserve.
 
steingar said:
No it would just be intelligent, which Americans apparently aren't. They couldn't even legalize marijuana in California, not enough folks wanted it. The one problem with Democracy is people tend to get the government they deserve.
Click to expand...

My grandfather always said the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. He was right. Of course, the problem is that benevolent part...
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My grandfather always said the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. He was right. Of course, the problem is that benevolent part...
Click to expand...

Democracy, it's the worst form of government, except all others.

Democracy is only two steps removed from anarchy, but at least it's not as loud.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Aristotle (the father of democracy) called it "mob rule".
Click to expand...

Pure democracy is just that. We live in a Democratic Republic, which is a wholly different thing. We still get the government that we deserve, however, and sometimes it ain't too good. Reference the War on Drugs as a salient example.
 
just read the old thread about your run-in with the authorities last year. kind of deja-vu as my father a few years ago was pulled aside by the feds because someone else on their list had the same first and last name. they did their job and let him go, but cases such as these do no justice to the existence of these agencies. my father was an upstanding citizen, and (ironically) had been a very well-known face on that airport for many many years.
another friend of mine was on his way home on leave in u.s. military uniform and also was stopped.
reminds me of the scene in Airplane! when the cops let the terrorists go by with RPK's and tackle the grannie with nothing.
even so, i would rather cooperate with authorities and grieve after being cleared.
doing so slowly but surely reinforces the good reputation of pilots who abide by the law and regs.
 
airbornejohnny said:
even so, i would rather cooperate with authorities and grieve after being cleared.
doing so slowly but surely reinforces the good reputation of pilots who abide by the law and regs.
Click to expand...

The pilot community has the highest concentration of veterans I have personally have experienced. This makes the security theatre surrounding general aviation even more ironic.

Do you have some sort of religious objection to capital letters? Just curious. I know a couple people who do, but they're really weird.
 
steingar said:
The pilot community has the highest concentration of veterans I have personally have experienced. This makes the security theatre surrounding general aviation even more ironic.

Do you have some sort of religious objection to capital letters? Just curious. I know a couple people who do, but they're really weird.
Click to expand...

no, i have nothing against them...and i think its funny that other people do, tho i have personally never met any.

I am not sure what you meant by the relationship of pilot community to veterans and security theater. Would you mind expanding a little bit on that one? I even used capital letters in this paragraph in hopes of appeasement.:D
 
airbornejohnny said:
I am not sure what you meant by the relationship of pilot community to veterans and security theater. Would you mind expanding a little bit on that one? I even used capital letters in this paragraph in hopes of appeasement.:D
Click to expand...

The mighty Steingar is appeased.

I have found more veterans of the US armed forces represented in the pilot community than any other group to which I have been exposed. This is a group of Americans who literally put their well being on the line for their country. Yet the government treats them like criminals vis-a-vis their treatment of Airmen. TFRs for political bigwigs. TFRs for stadia. Flight restrictions for Washington. Permission needed to leave the country. The fact that these limitations, which improve security for no one except those charged with enforcing them (in this case, job security) affect a group enriched for veterans of the armed forces, is in my opinion a crowning irony, and a shameful injustice.
 
Last edited:
Tom-D said:
would you remind us what thread that was ?
Click to expand...

From post 19:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34431

Summary: DHS was watching me because I flew too much. I landed at an airport that had several drug busts recently, so the Kansas Bureau of Investigation along with some local cops came out and searched my plane. They found nothing but a bunch of dog cages (since that was all there was to find) and I got to my destination 2 hours late.

DHS is probably still watching me, but they haven't bugged me since, even on all the international flights.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top