NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An indictment says members of a California-based drug ring have been using flights to Louis Armstrong International Airport to run drugs into a Louisiana parish.
The New Orleans Advocate reported Monday that the 13-count indictment accuses 14 named defendants and five unnamed co-conspirators of bring between 10 and 32 pounds (4.5 and 14.5 kilograms) of marijuana with them on flights since early 2014. The indictment says the members used commercial flights to run the drugs into Jefferson Parish.
The indictment is on drug, racketeering and money laundering charges. It accuses the group of bribing government employees or contractors and commercial airline employees.
Members of the ring acted as drug carriers or mules and were sometimes accompanied by other members.
The group also allegedly operated at Chicago Midway International Airport and airports in California.