On Wednesday, July 20, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office began a narcotics investigation when approximately 1 kilo of cocaine was found on an aircraft at HAECO Aviation Services Inc. located at 102 SE Academic Ave.
HAECO service personnel found the narcotics while servicing a Jet Blue A320 aircraft and notified CCSO. The investigation revealed the aircraft had been used on approximately 360 flights during the last three months with various international and domestic destinations. The aircraft was then flown from JFK Airport in New York to Lake City for service. The last destination prior to JFK was a stop in the Dominican Republic.
On Sunday, July 24, HAECO personnel found approximately 2 kilos of cocaine on a different Jet Blue A320 aircraft. The location of the narcotics on the second plane was in the same area of the plane as the first. This aircraft’s itinerary is not known at this time.
Jet Blue has fully cooperated in the investigation and provided information on its procedures and schedules. HAECO is a locally operated business servicing customers throughout the country.
Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “If not for the excellent working relationship we have with our local businesses these drugs would have reached their intended destination”.
This investigation is active and on-going by the Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force. The task force is comprised of law enforcement personnel from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Lake City Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
