3 GIs, Panamanian Seized With Cocaine on U.S. Plane

Three American soldiers and a Panamanian were arrested after 77 pounds of cocaine were found in a U.S. military plane that flew in from Panama, a customs official said today.

The four, all wearing U.S. Army uniforms, were detained at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station after the drug was found Saturday during a routine customs check, Mamie Pollock, U.S. Customs regional director, said.

She said the inquiry was in the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. attorney’s office.

Customs agents, assisted by drug-sniffing dogs, seized about 77 pounds of cocaine with a wholesale value of $350,000 to $420,000, DEA Special Agent Arthur Barnes said in a telephone interview today.

A spokesman at Roosevelt Roads, on Puerto Rico’s east coast, said no Navy personnel were involved and the pilot and crew were not arrested.

“Those arrested were passengers,” said Ensign Javier Irizarry, base public affairs officer.

Irizarry said the men were intercepted by customs officials as they arrived aboard a Military Airlift Command flight, managed by the U.S. Air Force. The flight originated at Howard Air Base in Panama.

The DEA identified the Panamanian as Rafael A. Valladares and the Americans as Darryl Taylor of Springfield, Ill., Franklyn Brown of Forest Heights, Md., and Bruce Milton Mack of Chicago. Their ages and ranks were not available.