Pot plane plummets near Bylas/Pilot caught, 233 pounds seized

By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Monday, October 19, 2009 4:07 PM MST

An ultralight aircraft carrying 233 pounds of marijuana crash-landed near Bylas early Saturday morning. The suspect, later identified as Ramon Coronado-Arviso, 27, of Mexico, fled from the scene but was apprehended later the same day.

Using small aircraft for night flights is becoming an increasingly popular method of dealers to transport their contraband across the border, according to a recent USA Today interview with Michael Kostelnik, a Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner.

Ultralights generally have a limited speed of between 60 to 65 mph and can't carry heavy loads. Recent crashes of drug-laden ultralights in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector are believed to have been caused by carrying too much weight.

Saturday, the Border Patrol spotted Arviso's ultralight crossing the border and tracked it into Arizona. The Border Patrol notified the San Carlos Police Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs of the situation when the aircraft was over tribal lands.

After the craft crashed at about 3 a.m., the SCPD and BIA led teams of law enforcement in a search for Arviso, including an Arizona Department of Corrections dog team.

According to SCPD Chief Alejandro Benally, a local Tribal Game and Fish officer located Arviso about four to five miles south of the crash site.

Arviso was then booked into the Gila County Jail on charges of transportation of marijuana for sale, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of marijuana.

Benally said while the SCPD and BIA's investigation is ongoing, he was impressed with the collaboration of tribal and nontribal law enforcement agencies.

"We all came together and got it done," he said. "We got the airplane, the stuff and the suspect."

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Comments

6 comment(s)

awesome wrote on Oct 24, 2009 9:53 PM:

" Who or how did they get the ultralight out of there after it crashed? I heard they had some problems with agencies getting along and that a couple agencies were ran off by the tribal police?? "

real wrote on Oct 24, 2009 9:29 AM:

" nancy why noy shoot all the addicts that will stop all the idiot white folks from using wasted money rehab courts jail thieves so hows the idiots you are "

red wrote on Oct 23, 2009 8:19 AM:

" I bet he thought he was back in Mexico when he was flying over the reservation. "

Nancy wrote on Oct 22, 2009 5:55 AM:

" Don't these idiots know they can be seen and tracked day or night? They should be shot down as soon as they cross the line and that would soon stop this nonsense and save our taxpayers dollars tracking them across Arizona. "

judy wrote on Oct 20, 2009 3:30 PM:

" Its great knowing that agenicies can work together and pull off a great job. its nice to know someone wont be making the big bucks off these drugs. GOOD WORK GUYS>>>KEEP IT UP> "

Lorita wrote on Oct 20, 2009 5:32 AM:

" Looks like the disease of Dysfunctional Common Sense has no international boundaries. "

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