Grand Jury Indicts Pilot in Drug Case
A federal grand jury Friday indicted a Santa Barbara man who authorities said landed a cocaine-laden plane at the Santa Paula Airport last week.
Daniel Wesley Allen, 52, was charged with importing cocaine, possessing cocaine with intent to distribute it and using or carrying a firearm in a drug-trafficking crime, Assistant U.S. Atty. Samantha Phillips said. The importation and possession charges carry a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence and each of three firearms counts against Allen carries a five-year minimum, Phillips said.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Phillips said. The case is expected to be assigned to a judge the same day.
Customs agents seized Allen’s twin-engine plane and more than 600 pounds of cocaine Aug. 12 after following the craft from the U.S.-Mexico border until low fuel forced Allen to land in Santa Paula, authorities said.
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