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Colorado couple charged as meth transporters

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

The drugs that authorities said were confiscated from the plane.
The drugs that authorities said were confiscated from the plane.Read more

A Colorado couple were'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.

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

Handzus told the detective that he had a pound of meth for sale, which Vincent said would cost $27,000, according to court documents. Investigators believe that such a quantity has a street value of at least $64,000.

The couple also allegedly said they could deliver up to 10 pounds of meth on future trips.

Vincent and Handzus were arrested 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 have previously transported meth to Montgomery County, possibly two to three times a year.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri 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 airports do.

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

Handzus and Vincent were being held at the Montgomery County Prison on $500,000 bail each.

If Handzus is convicted, his airplane, which he named "My Lady," will either be auctioned or used to enforce drug laws, prosecutors said.