Seized Drugs Plane For Sale On Ebay

26 February 2013, 16:26 | Updated: 26 February 2013, 16:31

A light aircraft used by a drugs gang to smuggle cocaine into Corby is being sold off by police on eBay.

The unusual sale, announced by Northamptonshire Police, will raise funds for policing activities and community projects if the Zenair Zodiac meets its £12,000 reserve price.

On its eBay page, which went live last night, the aeroplane is described as being ``out of commission'' and needing considerable work before an airworthiness certificate can be issued.

The plane, used to fly cocaine with a street value of £1.7 million into the UK from France, was seized under the Misuse of Drugs Act by officers from the East Midlands special operations unit.

Northamptonshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Adam Simmonds said: ``I believe this may be the first time a force in the country has seized an aeroplane and is in a position to sell it, so this is a great result for us.

``This goes to show that not only will we go after those who commit crime in our county, but we will also go after their assets and ill-gotten gains.''

Detective Inspector Greg Maides, a senior investigating officer at the East Midlands special operations unit, said: ``It is relatively common to confiscate a criminal's car, but it's not often that we make an application to seize a plane, so we can't really predict how the bidding is likely to go.''