The Associated Press
MORIARTY, N.M. (AP) -- Christmas has come early for the Moriarty Police Department, thanks to a tip from an Albuquerque aircraft charter company and luggage stuffed with more than $1 million.
Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia said Thursday that his officers were called to the municipal airport here Thanksgiving Day about a report of suspicious activity.
A six-seat, single-engine Piper airplane had made an emergency landing at the airport after reporting mechanical problems.
It was on its way to Glendale, Ariz., from New Jersey. The plane failed to start after it landed and the pilot called Bode Aviation in Albuquerque to request a charter, Garcia said.
A Bode employee asked the pilot, Kamlesh Rana of Connecticut, for the weight of his cargo and the name of his passenger. Rana, 34, had some 300 pounds of cargo but he didn’t know his passenger’s name.
The suspicious answers led the employee to contact Moriarty police, Garcia said.
Officers arrived at the airport and separated Rana and his passenger, Yuri Folks.
“They asked them a series of questions and their stories weren’t jibing,” Garcia said. “They asked if there was anything on the plane that they should know about and they said no.”
Rana and Folks removed their personal luggage but a large black suitcase remained in the rear cargo area. Garcia said the two denied that the suitcase belonged to them.
“The officers opened it and found U.S. currency wrapped in cellophane, a whole lot of it,” Garcia said.
A drug-sniffing dog hit on the airplane and the luggage but no narcotics were found.
“All that tells us is that at one time there was narcotics on the plane,” Garcia said. “It’s safe to say it’s money they were bringing back from their activities in New Jersey.”
Rana was released after being questioned. He had told investigators that he was instructed by his boss to fly the passenger from New Jersey to Arizona and that he knew nothing else.
Folks was detained by immigration officials because he didn’t have the necessary documentation to be in the United States.
The FBI seized the airplane and the cash, which totaled more than $1.1 million for the biggest bust the Moriarty Police Department had ever made.
Once the formalities are taken care of, the cash will be given back to the department.
Will it make a big impact on the department’s budget? You bet, Garcia said.
“Anything is possible -- more officers, pay increases but what I would really like is a new police department,” the chief said.