Pilot Arrested: 74 pounds of marijuana found inside single-engine plane. Fitchburg Municipal Airport (KFIT), Massachusetts.

FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — Authorities say the pilot of a single-engine plane that landed at Fitchburg Airport has been arrested after 74 pounds of marijuana and $77,000 in cash was found in three duffel bags inside the aircraft.

Hoang Nguyen, 31, of Hillsborough, Oregon, was charged Tuesday with trafficking marijuana and booked at the State Police Barracks in Leominster. He is to be arraigned in Fitchburg District Court on Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and Homeland Security agents began monitoring the movements of Nguyen's aircraft, which had departed from Santa Monica, Calif. Investigators tracked to the plane to Morris County Airport in Grundy, Illinois, and then to Fitchburg Airport.

When the plane landed, a State Police dog then alerted authorities to the presence of a narcotic odor coming from inside the aircraft.

FITCHBURG — An Oregon man was arrested after police said he flew across the country with about 74 pounds of marijuana.

Hoang Nguyen, 31, of Hillsborough, Ore., was arrested at Fitchburg Municipal Airport this afternoon after federal agents started tracking the single-engine plane when it took off from Santa Monica, Calif. State police said U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security agents tracked the plane as it stopped at Morris County Airport in Grundy, Illinois. Certain “behaviors” that state police did not elaborate on, citing the ongoing investigation, raised further suspicion as the plane was tracked to Fitchburg.

State police said the marijuana had a bulk value of around $370,000, but added that had it been broken down for street-level sale, a dealer could expect to make double that amount.

State troopers and federal agents were waiting as the plane landed this afternoon.

A state police dog alerted authorities to the presence of narcotics, and after getting a search warrant from Fitchburg District Court, authorities found about 74 pounds of marijuana, more than $77,000 in cash, maps, an iPad, and cellular phones.

Mr. Nguyen was arrested and charged with trafficking in more than 50 pounds of marijuana, and was taken into custody, according to state police.

State police did not elaborate on where the drugs came from, and did not say where Mr. Nguyen’s final destination was.

Mr. Nguyen is expected to be arraigned tomorrow in Fitchburg District Court.

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