$6.5 MILLION WORTH OF COCAINE FOUND STUFFED INSIDE PLANE AT FORT LAUDERDALE EXECUTIVE AIRPORT

TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015 | 54 MINUTES AGO

Authorities found 485-pounds of cocaine, similar to these stacks, stuffed away inside a plane's panels, floorboards, and seats.
Courtesy of U.S. Federal Agency DEA


On November 14, 2014, three men flew a 1976 Gulfstream II jet from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to Venezuela, making stops in the Cayman Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. The jet returned to Fort Lauderdale nine days later, stuffed with over 485-pounds worth of cocaine — a load worth $6.5 million.

Two of the three men Christian Arroba, 34, and Marco Gaona, 30, left the jet in the hangar and returned the next day to unload their cargo. But the FBI were waiting for them.

The third man, Manuel Weisson, 49, was arrested sometime later.


According to federal prosecutors, the plane was initially able to avoid detection after the suspects gutted the interior of the jet, removing panels, seats and floorboards, and then cramming the empty spaces with cocaine. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the three men are members of an Ecuadorian drug cartel who flew the cocaine from Venezuela in November.

Authorities say that the men ran a dry run a month prior, flying the empty Gulfstream jet from South America into Las Vegas, to test how stringent authorities might be. However, unbeknownst to them, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration had been investigating the drug syndicate based off a tip. Authorities had their eye on the drug ring and the men for almost a year.

When the men first left from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, undercover agents placed hidden cameras inside the jets' hangar, which is how they were able to bust all three.

In April, all three men plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to import cocaine.

On Monday, authorities say Arroba and Gaona were each sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison. Weisson was sentenced to a term of six years, and eight months.

Arroba and Gaona, who are Ecuadorian natives, will be deported after they serve out their sentences. Weisson, who is also Ecuadorian, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and could be sent back to Ecuador.

Gaona and Arroba also pleaded guilty to a second charge of possession with intent to supply.

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