Dope Air: Cops say pilot flew marijuana from California to DeKalb

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A pilot who was arrested at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport last month was arraigned in federal court Wednesday on drug and conspiracy charges.

The man allegedly flew a Cessna loaded with 75 pounds of marijuana from California, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Qullian Yates.

Igor Goldenshtein, 42, of Los Angeles, was arrested soon after landing on July 19, authorities say. He is accused of piloting a drug-laden Cessna 400 from Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles. He and an alleged accomplice, also from California, were charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

The other man, Edward Akselrod, 36, of Tarzana, was spotted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents unloading bags from the airplane into a rental vehicle, Yates said. After Akselrod drove away, DeKalb County police officers stopped him and found the marijuana, Yates said.

“Those who think that Georgia is the place to smuggle narcotics to by aircraft or any other method are sorely mistaken,” said Brock Nicholson, acting special agent in charge of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations office in Atlanta.

The two men were indicted by a federal grand jury on July 27, and they were arraigned Wednesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Clayton Scofield, III.

They each face as much as five years in prison on each charge.