Cops: Colo. couple transported meth to MontCo in plane

A Colorado couple wasn't just flying high - they were transporting highs - when they traveled to Montgomery County in their personal airplane last week, according to prosecutors.

James Handzus, 51, and Tamara Vincent, 41, both of Rifle, Colo., allegedly used Handzus' 1959 Piper Comanche to transport a large quantity of methamphetamine, police said.

Last Thursday, Handzus landed his airplane at Wings Field in Whitpain Township and the following day, met with an undercover detective posing as a buyer at a local Ruby Tuesday's restaurant, police said.

Handzus told the undercover that he had a pound of meth for sale and Vincent told the cop it would cost $27,000, according to court documents. Investigators believe such a quantity has a street value of between $64,000 and $76,800.

They were taken in to custody in the restaurant parking lot and charged with drug trafficking and related offenses.

Handzus has family in the area and investigators believe that the couple has previously transported meth to Montgomery County, possibly two to three times a year.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman declined to say how investigators were tipped off to the couple.

She said that smaller airports like Wings Field do not have the regulations regarding searches that commercial ones do.

"These people were really able to put something on a plane and fly across the country without any consequences, they thought," she said.