Pilot Busted With 230 Pounds of Pot After 3-Airport Sting: Cops

It wasn't easy for Texas authorities to get Wayne Brunet to come down from the sky
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 21, 2017 3:54 PM CDT
3 Airports, 230 Pounds of Pot, One Busted Pilot
Wayne Brunet   (KVUE)

If you fly your small plane solo from Medford, Ore., to South Texas with only one stop to gas up during the 2,000-mile flight, you're either going for some sort of endurance record or you're trying to get to your destination as quickly as possible for … reasons. The Department of Homeland Security and Texas police suspected the latter about Wayne Douglas Brunet's flight, which someone had called in to DHS Sunday as being suspicious, the KVUE reports. The reasons for his efficient flight, authorities say, were because he was transporting 230 pounds of vacuum-packed pot, plus $6,000 in cash. Federal officials began keeping track of the 64-year-old's plane after the initial tip, and when Brunet tried to land at a remote airport in Bulverde, Texas, he spotted authorities and zipped back into the clouds, his arrest affidavit notes.

The Houston Chronicle details the next leg of his trip, which was apparently to another airport in Lago Vista—where more law enforcement sat waiting and he again aborted his landing. Going for that charmed third attempt, Brunet then finally set down at Llano's airport, and it's here where officials say he tried to make a run for it before being nabbed by the Department of Public Safety. Inside the plane, per authorities, were 15 duffel bags with the marijuana and cash. Brunet was charged with pot possession with intent to distribute, which could net him between five and 40 years in federal prison if he's convicted. (A police dispatcher was busted with lots of pot—in her basement.)

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