ARREST MADE IN $24 MILLION WV COCAINE PLANE CRASH

(01/29/2009)
This is a continuance of a West Virginia story that happened four years ago.

The Herald reported the story because of the estimated value of cocaine discovered in a crashed airplane at the Wheeling airport.

The plane was transporting 520 pounds of cocaine worth $24 million.

A man accused of piloting the plane was captured in Mexico last year and is set to go on trial March 17.

Eugene Cobbs pleaded innocent Tuesday in Wheeling.

If convicted, Cobbs faces up to 25 years in prison and more than $8 million in fines.

Despite billions of dollars spent by the federal government on interdiction, an estimated 75 planes enter the US daily with illegal drugs.