The Region - News from July 7, 1987

More than 225 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $12.5 million was seized near a remote desert airstrip about seven miles north of Needles, authorities said. The seizure, called the largest ever in San Bernardino County, was carried out by sheriff’s deputies who responded to an anonymous tip concerning a “suspicious airplane and truck” at the dirt airstrip. When deputies arrived at the scene, the plane was gone, but the cocaine was discovered in a pickup that had been parked nearby in tall brush, officials said.