There's an article in the latest Outdoor Life magazine, written by a gal who was an undercover officer for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, describing a sting on an illegal guided-hunt operation in Alaska. It mentions that part of the aftermath of the bust was the outfitter and two other pilots each forfeiting their Supercubs. Ouch!

Eric

Don't worry--they weren't exactly superior examples of the breed.

Nevertheless, it's always a good idea to read the statutes sorta carefully prior to participating in nefarious deeds.

Some of them game regs are in fact federal felonies.

MTV

mtv wrote:Don't worry--they weren't exactly superior examples of the breed.
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MTV

You talking about the airplanes or the people?

Both,

MTV

Is anybody thinking what I'm thinking? Possible good deals on Super Cubs in an upcoming government auction.

Check Ebay, auction expires on 12-14 for a couple of Cubs and a 170 that I would guess began their State careers as aircraft belonging to owners of ill intent and worse luck.

No, the Cubs were purchased airplanes. The 170 was and is listed as a seized aircraft.

One of the biggest lines of BS around is that every game law enforcement agency aircraft was seized from some poor innocent, who just stepped across the line just that once.

In fact, hardly any of the 38 aircraft in the agency I worked for (specifically ONE) were ever seized from anyone.

I have had the task on a couple of occasions to be the lucky dog who got to fly one of those seized airplanes out of where it was seized. I in fact was the guy who served the papers on a couple. They were all, the one exception, VERY marginal aircraft, and frankly not very airworthy. We generally had a mechanic take a pretty close look before we'd fly one of them to an impound.

One out of 38. Yep, nearly every one of them was taken from some poor innocent.

MTV

Not that this is representative, but I did see a gorgeous USFS TU206 at Redmond, Oregon last summer that I was told had been siezed from drug smugglers. It had intercoolers, heavy duty lg, STOL kit, VGs, Flints and a panel to die for. It also had several ferry tanks in addition to the Flints and could hold an unbelievable amount of fuel (I forget just how much). Basically, it was as tricked-out as a 206 can be.

Drug smugglers tend to operate a little better airplanes than do the really bad guides.

On the other hand, drug smugglers generally STEAL their aircraft, due to the very subject of this thread.

Steal one, and if you lose it, it's no big deal. The owner probably already collected on the insurance policy, and wouldn't want it back anyway, based on what druggies do with airplanes.....

If it is forfeited by the court to the agency, they can either keep it or sell it, IF they have a ceiling (billet) for an airplane.

The other problem with a lot of those airplanes is there is no paperwork, and many of them are modified beyond belief.

But, it does happen. Not nearly as frequently as a lot of folks would lead you to believe. You even hear this stuff within the agencies, generally from non LE folks.

But, if you're an LE guy, why squelch the rumor--makes for good stories and better deterrance.

MTV