It sounds like a scene from a movie. An emergency landing on an Oceanside highway ends with two men arrested, suspected of smuggling drugs.
People in Oceanside said they had never seen anything like this before.
It all happened in the middle of the night. According to investigators, a small plane left Oceanside Wednesday afternoon and landed in the Phoenix area. Then, Wednesday night, it headed back to Oceanside, but the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on State Route 76 Thursday morning.
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The grandfather of 21-year-old Gabriel Breit, one of the two men aboard the Piper Cherokee Pathfinder, told NBC 7 he was very surprised to hear Breit had been arrested in connection to the incident.
“It doesn’t make any sense that he would get in any trouble,” Victor Keisman said.
Officers arrested Breit and 36-year-old Troy Smith, both Oceanside residents, after they found drugs inside, according to the Oceanside Police Department.
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Keisman heard the news about the plane but never imagined his grandson could have been involved.
“He was working out his hours because for FAA they need at least 1,500 hours to be a commercial pilot of a jet, and he said he was going to get it by the end of this year,” Keisman said.
Police said they saw one of the two men discard a backpack into a nearby bush, which contained one kilo of suspected cocaine. Both were arrested on drug transportation charges.
According to police, Breit is a flight instructor and Smith is a student pilot. The two flew to Arizona on Wednesday afternoon and were returning to Oceanside when encountered engine problems, OPD said.
"Seeing the plane, I was just surprised. I'm like, 'Wow, you know, like in Oceanside, a plane full of drugs in the middle of the road,'" one witness said.
“My first thought was like, 'Are they okay?' Like, why is there a plane in the middle of the street?” said another.
NBC 7 cameras were rolling as Oceanside police officers searched Smith’s residence on Thursday afternoon.
Ring video shared with NBC 7 shows the moment the family was escorted from the house.
The Drug Enforcement Administration said they are working with Oceanside police and confirmed they served a search warrant Thursday morning.
Keisman said he is still trying to process what happened.
"He’s a very kind person, very conscious of what he does. I flew with him several times. He is very professional, so it doesn’t fit with his character. I have no idea what happened. I have no idea,” Keisman said.
The owner of the plane told NBC 7 by phone he rents it out through Plus One Flyers, a private flying club in San Diego.
NBC 7 found no criminal history in San Diego County for either man prior to this incident.
Breit and Smith were both released on bail at around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
