COLUMBUS: Two Canadian men are facing drug charges in the U.S. after border protection agents allege they found a large amount of cocaine on a private plane headed to Windsor.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency alerted police in Athens County, Ohio on Wednesday when they noticed that a Canada-bound twin-engine plane diverted from its flight path and made an unauthorized stop in the United States due to a mechanical emergency. A release from the agency says a police dog found nearly 136 kilograms of a substance custom officers say tested positive for cocaine. The agency says two suspects have been charged, Sylvain Desjardins, 57, and David Ayotte, 46, both from Quebec. They appeared in court in Columbus on charges of possession with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. It’s not known when they’ll next appear on the allegations, which haven’t been tested in the American courts. American police forces are working with the Windsor police, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the RCMP in the ongoing investigation.
