Ex-USC athlete held in drug plot

SAN DIEGO — A former USC athlete was arrested at a golf course in Carlsbad on suspicion of being involved in an international drug smuggling and money laundering operation, authorities said Thursday.

Owen Hanson, 33, a member of the USC football and volleyball teams in the early 2000s, was arrested on federal drug charges Wednesday night, according to the FBI. He pleaded not guilty to one criminal count and remains at the federal jail in downtown San Diego pending a court appearance Friday.

The operation allegedly ran in Mexico, the U.S. and Australia, according to police in New South Wales, Australia.

Australian authorities will seek to have Hanson extradited to Sydney so he can face charges of money laundering, perverting justice, intent to defraud by false statements and involvement with a large commercial supply of drugs.

A lawyer, a music promoter and two other men have been arrested in Australia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The investigation began when police in Sydney seized a briefcase holding $702,000 at a Hilton hotel in 2011. The briefcase was allegedly in the possession of a business partner of Hanson.

The business partner sued unsuccessfully to get the money back, asserting it was profits from a Lenny Kravitz concert.

A 2003 story in The Times listed Hanson, a tight end, as among the non-scholarship football walk-ons at USC.