A recent feature article first appearing in Kentucky’s Louisville Courier-Journal then picked up by USA TODAY and Yahoo News carried the headline, “Rogue pilots trafficked a billion dollars in cartel drugs across US while no one watched.” The lengthy piece detailed how “California businessman” Robert Carlson used private aircraft to transport illegal drugs throughout the U.S. According to the article’s author, Beth Warren, “Carlson’s case—provided through federal court transcripts and interviews with prosecutors and agents—exposes gaping holes in security at the majority of the nation’s more than 2,500 general aviation airports, where there are no Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.”
Warren quoted Kenneth Martinson, described as a “retired Homeland Security Investigations agent who is considered one of the godfathers of plane smuggling cases,” as saying, “The next time you look up and see [a private airplane], wonder to yourself: ‘Where’s it going? Where’d it come from, and what’s on board?’ There’s a good chance it could be illicit narcotics.” Since this magazine is a family publication, my response may be translated as “Blowing Snow.”
