Ex-Airline Mechanic Gets 20 Years in Drug Case

A former airline mechanic was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for admittedly flying 1,208 pounds of cocaine into the United States from Mexico.

Henry Peralta, 54, of San Diego, also was fined $250,000 by U.S. District Judge Judith Keep in what prosecutors say was the largest aerial drug-smuggling case in San Diego history.

“We’re talking about $15 million to $20 million worth of cocaine with a street value of between $150 million and $160 million,” Keep said. “This was over half a ton of 90% pure cocaine.”

Peralta pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine and conspiring to possess the drug with intent to distribute, both of which carry maximum sentences of life in prison. Single counts of traveling and interstate commerce in aid of racketeering were dismissed in exchange for the plea.

Peralta, a former mechanic for Pacific Southwest Airlines at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, said he hid the contraband in the desert brush outside Yuma, Ariz., before dawn on Nov. 26 because nobody met him at a prearranged drop spot.

The area was part of a U.S. Army airfield, and the cocaine was discovered eight days later by Army personnel, who reported it to authorities, Assistant U.S. Atty. Pat Swan said outside court.

Authorities traced the cocaine to Peralta because his plane had been the only non-military aircraft in the area during the two weeks preceding its discovery, Swan said.

This was the second-largest cocaine seizure case to be prosecuted in federal court in San Diego, Swan said. Authorities discovered 1,287 pounds of cocaine last year in a panel truck that had been driven from Mexico to eastern San Diego County.

Two others charged in the current case, Frank Torres of San Diego and Ventura Trevino of Riverside County, both illegal aliens who were to meet Peralta when he landed, were sentenced previously, Swan said. Torres received 15 months in prison and Trevino two years in prison.

The remaining two defendants, whom Swan declined to identify, are fugitives.