Drug smuggling suspects are arrested after the plane runs out of fuel and is forced to make an emergency landing

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) – Two people accused of using a plane to smuggle drugs were arrested after their plane ran out of fuel and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on a California highway.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, firefighters received a radio call that a single-engine plane had landed in the middle of the road on State Road 76 in Oceanside. According to police, the pilot of the Piper Cherokee made an emergency call before the emergency landing. There was no traffic on the ground and neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured.

As officers approached the passenger, 36-year-old Troy Smith, police say they did something suspicious. He threw a backpack into the bushes, in which the officers said they found a kilogram of suspected cocaine.

The street value of a kilo of cocaine is about $70,000, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

According to police, Smith also had a small amount of cocaine on him. He and the pilot, 21-year-old Gabriel Breit, were arrested for illegally transporting narcotics.

Tom Fries, the plane's registered owner, says he has been leasing it to Plus One Flyers, a local flying club, since February. He says a Federal Aviation Administration investigator told him the plane had run out of fuel.

Breit is listed on LinkedIn as a certified flight instructor for Plus One Flyers.

The plane was just arriving when it made an emergency landing. Flight records show it took off from Mesa, Arizona, late Wednesday evening.

The investigation is ongoing.

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