Opinion ID: 495278
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Arizona Marijuana Importation

Text: 24 In May 1981, Kragness telephoned Lager at his home in South Dakota and requested him to act as a transporter for a planned importation of drugs from Mexico into the Phoenix, Arizona area. Lager agreed and traveled to Colorado, where he met Kragness and Dennis Nelson, a friend of Dennis Deters's. These three then flew to Phoenix. Kragness explained to Lager the plan for the drug run, a plan Kragness and other participants said he had used before. A man called Eddie Roberts, whose real name was John Blackwell, was to pick up marijuana in Oaxaca, Mexico and drive it to a Mexican airport near the United States border. Nelson was to fly to this airport and return with the marijuana. Lager and various other persons would wait for Nelson at two alternate Arizona airports. When Nelson landed, the pick-up person would transport the marijuana to Roberts's ranch near Tucson. 25 This drug flight was eventually called off. Kragness and Nelson made a reconnaissance flight to the Mexican airport, and discovered that a number of Mexican federal police were present there. Nelson called Deters to discuss the problem, and, acting upon Deters's advice, decided not to make the drug run. The other participants then gave up on the trip and returned home. 7 26 In late May 1981, Kragness again contacted Lager and requested that he go back to Arizona to participate in a drug run. This time Lager traveled to Colorado and met Martin Vinson, with whom he then flew to Phoenix. In Phoenix, Lager and Vinson met with Roberts and others, with whom they were to execute the same plan as on Lager's first trip to Arizona, except that Vinson was to be the pilot. On the appointed day, Lager went to one of the alternate return airports; he saw Vinson's plane fly over, but it did not land at his airport. Lager drove to Roberts's ranch, where he found the other participants, save for Vinson, and a quantity of marijuana. The marijuana was divided up and Lager then returned home, making part of the trip with a Canadian to whom part of the marijuana had been distributed. 27 In January 1982, Kragness asked Lager to go to Oaxaca, Mexico with Roberts and drive Roberts's pickup camper back carrying a load of marijuana. Lager and Roberts drove from Arizona to Oaxaca, and after they arrived, Roberts obtained a number of cannisters of marijuana which he loaded into his truck. On their way home, Roberts and Lager were stopped at a checkpoint by Mexican authorities, searched, and arrested when the marijuana was discovered. Lager spent from late January to mid-March 1982 in a Mexican prison. Kragness helped obtain Lager's release, apparently by arranging bribes of Mexican officials.