Reply #10: Illegal immigrants, marijuana found on planes

[rainbow4321]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D87RDNTG0.html

Two small planes left South Texas border cities around the same time Monday night, both bound for San Antonio with lucrative and illicit cargoes.

One of the aircraft carried more than 100 pounds of potent marijuana north from Mexico, the other four Chinese citizens who had spent the previous month on a perilous trip from their homeland to find work in the United States.

But federal officials ended up catching up to both flights — one from Laredo and the other from Eagle Pass. Four accused smugglers were arrested and the illegal immigrants, who may have paid tens of thousands of dollars for the fruitless journey, will likely be deported.

Pena would not say how much the immigrants paid to be transported, but he said prices from China commonly range upwards of $40,000 per person. The four-seat Cessna 172P was last registered to Hameed Afzal and Alyce S. Taylor, who live in San Antonio. Afzal, who runs a flight school, did not immediately return a call Tuesday from The Associated Press. But he told the San Antonio Express-News that he rented the plane to a man whom he would not identify.