Drug Plane Lands On SoCal Freeway, 2 Arrested: Police

OCEANSIDE, CA — Two people were arrested overnight on suspicion of transporting drugs after a small plane landed on state Route 76 in northern San Diego County, authorities said.

Officers responded to a report of a plane landing on the highway around 1:45 a.m. Thursday on eastbound SR-76 near Canyon Drive in Oceanside, according to the Oceanside Police Department.

Two people were aboard the single-engine Piper PA-28 plane and were not injured in the abrupt landing, according to the department and the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot reported engine failure as the reason for the emergency landing.

Authorities searched the aircraft and found "a large quantity of narcotics" inside the plane, police said. The pilot and passenger of the plane, both Oceanside residents, were arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of transporting narcotics.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the circumstances of the emergency landing.