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Summit County distributes grants for utility bills
Ohio home sales rise in October
Woman's purse snatched after beer purchase
Akron Circle K store robbed for second time this month
Kent city, university police investigating two robberies
Third suspect arrested in Akron market robbery
Kangaroo tries to drown dog, attacks owner
Fugitive task force reaches milestone
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Akron man killed in crash on his street
Browns find another way to lose
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
City, county may ban bias based on sexual orientation
Zips men end tournament with 69-52 win over Howard
Calling hours today for Stefanie Spielman
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:59 a.m. EDT, May 05, 2008
STOW: The street value of 30 kilos of cocaine seized at the Kent State Airport Friday night could be $2 million or more, law enforcement officials said this morning.
''This is a rather sizeable amount of cocaine'' for this area, Stow Police Chief Louis Dirker said.
The cocaine seizure was described in detail at a news conference at the Stow Police Department, and Dirker released a video showing the arrest of two of the three suspects in the case and the search of their Cessna 182 by a Kent police officer and police dog after the plane landed at the airport.
Arrested were Robert W. Hawes, 35, of Cleveland; Tommy A. Gonzales, 27, of Riverside, Calif., and Malcolm A. Sales, 45, of Westminster, Calif. All were charged with one count of felony possession of drugs and taken to the Summit County jail Friday night.
The three appeared in Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court this afternoon, where Judge Lisa L. Coates set bond at $1 million cash for each.
John Ferster, resident agent in charge of the Cleveland office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said it is likely that federal charges also would be filed against the three men.
''This is a big deal,'' Dirker said. ''This isn't a dime bag of marijuana.''
The chief said Stow police received a call from the Kent State University Police Department Friday saying they had been contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Los Angeles concerning a shipment of cocaine being flown to Stow from California.
After Filo, the Kent police dog, searched the plane, Dirker said, Kent canine officer Marty Gilliland reported that the dog reacted as if there were drugs on board.
''He (Gilliland) said the plane was either full of T-bone steaks or cocaine because the dog went after'' what was on board, Dirker said.
Inside the community room at the Stow Safety Building today, the 30 wrapped packages of cocaine were put on display.
''This is an excellent example of several agencies working together,'' the chief said.
Along with Stow police and the DEA, other agencies that worked on the drug bust were the Kent State University and Kent police departments, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Dirker said flight record showed that the Kent State University Airport was the destination of the plane, which also made stops in Denver and Indiana.
The cocaine is worth $25,000 a kilo, or $750,000, at its basic market value, he said, but the street value could be two to three times that -- up to $2.25 million.
Ferster said if cocaine is 100 percent pure, sellers ''double or triple their money.''
The drugs were found in a luggage compartment behind the pilot. Each package was marked ''Chuko,'' but Dirker and Ferster said they did not know the significance of that marking.
Dirker said Hawes has a record of being charged with drug trafficking.
The chief described the arrest as a ''once-in-a-lifetime experience'' for a law enforcement officer.
''I've been in police work 33 years and I've never seen anything like this,'' he said.
-EOS2-Video of Drug Bust
(If the video below does not work use the link to the video in the right rail of this page)
STOW: The street value of 30 kilos of cocaine seized at the Kent State Airport Friday night could be $2 million or more, law enforcement officials said this morning.
''This is a rather sizeable amount of cocaine'' for this area, Stow Police Chief Louis Dirker said.
The cocaine seizure was described in detail at a news conference at the Stow Police Department, and Dirker released a video showing the arrest of two of the three suspects in the case and the search of their Cessna 182 by a Kent police officer and police dog after the plane landed at the airport.
Arrested were Robert W. Hawes, 35, of Cleveland; Tommy A. Gonzales, 27, of Riverside, Calif., and Malcolm A. Sales, 45, of Westminster, Calif. All were charged with one count of felony possession of drugs and taken to the Summit County jail Friday night.
The three appeared in Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court this afternoon, where Judge Lisa L. Coates set bond at $1 million cash for each.
John Ferster, resident agent in charge of the Cleveland office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said it is likely that federal charges also would be filed against the three men.
''This is a big deal,'' Dirker said. ''This isn't a dime bag of marijuana.''
The chief said Stow police received a call from the Kent State University Police Department Friday saying they had been contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Los Angeles concerning a shipment of cocaine being flown to Stow from California.
After Filo, the Kent police dog, searched the plane, Dirker said, Kent canine officer Marty Gilliland reported that the dog reacted as if there were drugs on board.
''He (Gilliland) said the plane was either full of T-bone steaks or cocaine because the dog went after'' what was on board, Dirker said.
Inside the community room at the Stow Safety Building today, the 30 wrapped packages of cocaine were put on display.
''This is an excellent example of several agencies working together,'' the chief said.
Along with Stow police and the DEA, other agencies that worked on the drug bust were the Kent State University and Kent police departments, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Dirker said flight record showed that the Kent State University Airport was the destination of the plane, which also made stops in Denver and Indiana.
The cocaine is worth $25,000 a kilo, or $750,000, at its basic market value, he said, but the street value could be two to three times that -- up to $2.25 million.
Ferster said if cocaine is 100 percent pure, sellers ''double or triple their money.''
The drugs were found in a luggage compartment behind the pilot. Each package was marked ''Chuko,'' but Dirker and Ferster said they did not know the significance of that marking.
Dirker said Hawes has a record of being charged with drug trafficking.
The chief described the arrest as a ''once-in-a-lifetime experience'' for a law enforcement officer.
''I've been in police work 33 years and I've never seen anything like this,'' he said.
-EOS2-
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