OCEANSIDE, Calif.—Two Oceanside residents were arrested Thursday on suspicion of drug smuggling after making a predawn emergency landing in a light airplane on state Route 76 in Oceanside, authorities said.
The pilot of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee landed the single-engine aircraft safely on the highway near Canyon Drive about 1:45 a.m. after reporting engine failure to flight controllers, according to the Oceanside Police Department.
A search of the aircraft revealed “a large quantity” of narcotics, and officers arrested the two people who had been traveling aboard it, a police statement said.
The identities of the suspects, who were uninjured in the emergency landing, remained unavailable as of early afternoon….