Airline Pilot Arrested After Sad Attempt to Smuggle Cocaine Backfires
A regional airline pilot flew directly to jail after a lame attempt at smuggling cocaine into the country landed him in the hospital.
Police say Stanley Rafael Hill, a 49-year-old pilot and father of two, flew to Colombia this weekend and loaded up on the cocaine, swallowing more than sixty bags of drugs before boarding a commercial flight to Houston as a passenger.
Unfortunately for Hill, the cat—and the cocaine—was soon out of the bag when at least one of the balloons popped inside his stomach midway through the flight.
When the flight landed in Houston, Hill was forced to request medical help and is currently recuperating in a Texas hospital room guarded by an armed police officer. He's been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
It's not clear whether Hill, an FAA-licensed commercial pilot with clearance to fly 737's, had special security clearances at the Colombian airport he flew out of—though his ill-advised choice to swallow 62 bags of cocaine suggests he probably did not.
