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3 Men Accused Of Flying Cocaine Into Local Airport
POSTED: 10:40 pm EDT May 3,
2008
UPDATED: 6:13 am EDT May 5,
2008
KENT, Ohio -- Three men are in custody for a major drug arrest at the Kent State Airport. The Stow Police Department received a call from the Kent State University Police Department informing them that they had gotten a call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles concerning a shipment of cocaine that was being flown in to the Kent State Airport late Friday evening. Stow police were in place when the plane landed and they said they found 30 packages of cocaine contining 1 kilogram each. Officers said that shortly after 10 p.m., a man was discovered parked in a 2007 Toyota Tundra in the parking lot at the airport. Minutes later, a 2006 Cessna 182 airplane approached a runway and landed.At that time several police cruisers, which had been staged in the area, surrounded the airplane and the pilot and one passenger were ordered out of the plane.Subsequent to a search by the Kent K-9, police said a number of packages wrapped in plastic were discovered in the airplane; preliminary tests indicated that the packages contained cocaine.The driver of the Toyota, Robert Hawes Jr., was arrested as were the pilot of the plane and the passenger who were identified as Malcolm Sales and Tommy Gonzales. The plane and the truck were seized pending forfeiture .Hawes, Gonzales and Sales were charged with possession of drugs, a felony of the first degree, and taken to the Summit County Jail where they are being held pending an arraignment on Monday morning in Cuyahoga Falls Court. Federal charges are pending.The Kent State University Airport is a public airport open to general aviation. None of the suspects have any ties or affiliations with Kent State University.
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