Police in Medford have arrested two Boise, Idaho, residents on cannabis trafficking charges after their plane crashed Saturday afternoon.
Shortly after taking off from Medford’s Rogue Valley International Airport, pilot Matthew Thompson reported mechanical difficulties and attempted to return. He wound up crashing the 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza prop plane into a tree on an east Medford residential street.
Investigators arrested Thompson and passenger Zachary Moore based on evidence at the scene, and the two were treated for minor injuries before being booked into the Jackson County Jail. No one on the ground was injured.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Julie Denney said drug smuggling in the area isn’t that unusual.
“This case is different in that there was a plane involved, but it’s not unusual that marijuana trafficking is going on here,” said Denney.
She said so much marijuana is being trafficked out of state that the Sheriff's Office has created an illegal marijuana enforcement task force
Medford Police said there is a federal investigation underway into the circumstances surrounding the plane crash.