Pilot Busted for Drug Smuggling
AIN has confirmed that Franklin Rodriguez, the U.S.

AIN has confirmed that Franklin Rodriguez, the U.S. Air National Guard pilot arrested April 12 for smuggling the so-called love drug Ecstasy into the U.S. aboard a C-5A Galaxy, was a Beechjet captain at that time for Flight Options. The fractional provider declined comment, citing employee-employer confidentiality.

According to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials, Rodriguez, 35, and loadmaster John Fong, 36, were found to be carrying some 290,000 Ecstasy pills–worth an estimated $11.6 million on the street–in their luggage after conducting a military mission from Germany to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. The two men admitted to law enforcement officers that they had transported Ecstasy on previous military flights. The DEA found a “large sum of cash” in Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment and is investigating whether the pilot transported Ecstasy while flying any civilian aircraft.