Trail of Drug-Linked Planes Leads Back to California Seller – and U.S. Aviation Regulatory ‘Blind Spot’

OCCRP reviewed the sales of 30 planes by Lance Zane Ricotta’s companies since 2014, and found evidence that 11 of them were seized, investigated, or found abroad in suspected or confirmed drug cases. Ricotta denied liability for how the aircraft were used, and experts said a loophole in U.S. plane registration rules makes it difficult to trace the real owners.

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