Drugs found when Windsor-bound plane makes emergency landing

Two men from Mirabel, Que., were charged Thursday in a U.S. federal court after authorities in Ohio discovered more than 90 kilograms of cocaine inside their small airplane when it was forced to make an emergency landing in the United States.

The plane landed at Ohio University Airport in Albany, Ohio, on Wednesday. According to Canadian aviation records, the plane is based in Lachute, Que., and is registered to Sylvain Desjardins, of Mirabel.

Desjardins, 47, and the other man who was on board, David Ayotte, also of Mirabel, were arrested and face charges of possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute. According to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in southern Ohio on Thursday, the aircraft, a Piper PA-31, was detected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday 29 kilometres north of an airport in the Bahamas. It had a flight plan to land in Windsor, but diverted to the airport in Ohio during the flight, and Desjardins was the pilot. Both men were detained for a bail hearing on Monday.

The cocaine was seized after the plane made the unplanned landing. Found were “132 bundles (each weighing approximately one kilogram (each),” according to the criminal complaint.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security took over after the plane landed.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that aviation records, based on the tail number of the aircraft, indicate it “has recently made flights over U.S. airspace while travelling between Canada and the Bahamas.”

According to the complaint: “A review of various database revealed that both Desjardins and Ayotte have prior convictions for drug offences in Canada.”