Drug agents seize plane loaded with pot; Ukiah pilot under arrest

Sheriff's deputies from Iowa County, Wis. have arrested a 29-year-old Ukiah man who was the pilot of an airplane carrying about 150 pounds of marijuana.

[what next]

That dude's toast.

[Mother Theresa]

what next wrote:

That dude's toast.

Sad but true. Another compassionate caregiver bites the dust. Probably 95% of all marijuana that is grown is grown for resale to the black market. There is almost no such thing as medical marijuana. The whole thing has become a scam. The only real solutinon is to get rid of federal prohibition and treat it and tax it like alcohol.

Until then, we need to keep busting the dealers in Mendocino County. We can't be a sanctuary County, like before Measure B, without thinking we will attract criminal dope growers who will keep dragging us down and trashing the environment.

[Afraid]

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm...

[socrateez]

aww man,

[John]

Legalize it dont criticize it

[reality checker]

DEA and ICE were involved?

sounds like he flew it in from Mexico.

[reality checker]

The article in thonline.com doesn't say where he began his flight.

MINERAL POINT, Wis.-- A California man whose airplane was stopped at the Iowa County airport in Mineral Point Oct. 18 as he allegedly attempted to take off with a load of marijuana was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

Trevor K. Ryan, 29, of Ukiah, Calif., was charged with possessing more than 50 kilograms (150 pounds) of marijuana in an indictment that seeks forfeiture of the 1963 Piper Aztec twin-engine, six-seat airplane Ryan was piloting when he was stopped at the rural airport.

Iowa County Sheriff Steven Michek said the marijuana was of high quality and valued at about $280 per ounce, or about $672,000 for the planeload. It was the most marijuana ever seized in Iowa County. In 2006, near Ridgeway, more than $360,000 in cash was seized from drug transactions, but little marijuana.

According to a complaint, Ryan had filed a flight plan showing he was landing at the Dane County Regional Airport and federal drug enforcement agents were waiting in Madison for the flight, having been tipped off that drugs might be aboard.

Instead Ryan landed Advertisement

around

8:45 p.m. at the Iowa County airport and the agents in Madison asked for assistance from law enforcement officers in Iowa County.

Two Iowa County deputies and a Mineral Point police officer went to the airport. As they arrived, the Piper Aztec was attempting to take off, but the officers managed to stop it. Ava, the Iowa County Sheriff's Department K-9 drug dog, also was on the scene. She indicated that drugs were on the aircraft, triggering the successful search.

The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department and the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force took part in the mission.

"It was a darn, good feeling to have a collective effort right from the beginning," Michek said. "We only had a 15-minute window. It was a lot of good police work, an awesome job -- from the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), my staff and the Mineral Point officer."

Ryan was held in Iowa County over the weekend and was transferred to the Dane County Jail where he is being held pending the federal case.

The decision by Ryan to land at Mineral Point remains a mystery. There was no one there to meet him, Michek said, and no sign of any problems with the plane.

"It's hard to say, whether he was going to deliver it in Iowa County is not out of the realm of possibility," he said. "Would someone from Dubuque be picking it up or from the Twin Cities? It's a difficult question to answer until we know more, or someone comes forward."

[Squeaky Duck]

Hey DUM-DUM, your prop-215 card is good only INSIDE California.

[reality checker]

Squeaky Duck wrote:

Hey DUM-DUM, your prop-215 card is good only INSIDE California.

True, but the fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was involved leads one to believe he brought it back from Mexico.

[Watcher]

Mother Theresa wrote:

<quoted text>
Sad but true. Another compassionate caregiver bites the dust. Probably 95% of all marijuana that is grown is grown for resale to the black market. There is almost no such thing as medical marijuana. The whole thing has become a scam. The only real solutinon is to get rid of federal prohibition and treat it and tax it like alcohol.
Until then, we need to keep busting the dealers in Mendocino County. We can't be a sanctuary County, like before Measure B, without thinking we will attract criminal dope growers who will keep dragging us down and trashing the environment.

If pot is legalized it will be twice as hard to keep it out of the schools and it won't stop all the pot growers from selling their pot to kids or from trashing the environment. We are going to have to bust pot growers and enforce laws whether pot is legal or not. We might as well keep it illegal and have a chance to keep it away from the kids.

[wiseinusa]

It doesn't matter where he got the crap, it doesn't matter whether it was medical marijuana... what matters is that another dirt bag is now having a real bad day!!!!!!!!! Hooray!

[vpg101]

1 plane for the newspapers;150 more for the grade schoolers of iowa.

[Fools]

Do you really think someone from Ukiah, CA needs to go to Mexico to get weed?

[_Spartacus_]

Fools wrote:

Do you really think someone from Ukiah, CA needs to go to Mexico to get weed?

Hee-hee... why... WHY do you think they call it DOPE!

_S_

[Fools]

The flight originated in CA.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/310432

"The pilot of a twin-engine plane from California that landed at the Mineral Point airport on Saturday night was arrested after Iowa County Sheriff's Department deputies..."

[Fools]

And I'm fairly certain Mexican weed isn't going for $280/oz.

[smile]

Fools wrote:

Do you really think someone from Ukiah, CA needs to go to Mexico to get weed?

(:

But of course, un-reality checker will do everything she can to pretend commercial dope production is not a problem in Mendocino County.

[Ordained Minister]

Mother Theresa wrote:

<quoted text>
Sad but true. Another compassionate caregiver bites the dust. Probably 95% of all marijuana that is grown is grown for resale to the black market. There is almost no such thing as medical marijuana. The whole thing has become a scam. The only real solution is to get rid of federal prohibition and treat it and tax it like alcohol.
Until then, we need to keep busting the dealers in Mendocino County. We can't be a sanctuary County, like before Measure B, without thinking we will attract criminal dope growers who will keep dragging us down and trashing the environment.

Too late! The growers are coming in droves and there's nothing you can do. As long as they follow all state and county laws no one can touch them!
And by the way...if there's no such thing as medical marijuana...explain marinol!!!
Next time read a book or ask someone who has to inform yourself of facts before you make ridiculous statements.

[Ordained Minister]

Watcher wrote:

<quoted text>
If pot is legalized it will be twice as hard to keep it out of the schools and it won't stop all the pot growers from selling their pot to kids or from trashing the environment. We are going to have to bust pot growers and enforce laws whether pot is legal or not. We might as well keep it illegal and have a chance to keep it away from the kids.

Still posting this rhetoric? I'm still waiting for you to show me some proof or at the minimum to point me to some facts that back your theories watcher. Please? I want to know how you've come to this rediculous assumption! Show me some statistics. Please? Come on! If you want ANYONE to take you serious at least show some proof somewhere.

[Watcher]

Ordained Minister wrote:

<quoted text>
Still posting this rhetoric? I'm still waiting for you to show me some proof or at the minimum to point me to some facts that back your theories watcher. Please? I want to know how you've come to this rediculous assumption! Show me some statistics. Please? Come on! If you want ANYONE to take you serious at least show some proof somewhere.

Are you saying that you don't believe there's any pot in our schools? Only a pot smoker would say such a stupid thing or be so heartlessly naive.