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07/06/05 01:32 AM

Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off
July 5, 2005 - foxnews.com

Two Kentucky men face federal drug-trafficking charges after the Missouri State Highway Patrol allegedly found methamphetamine and cash in their vehicle along with a rocket system in the car's trunk.

Authorities suspect the rocket was intended to jettison the drugs in the event it was detected by police.

Michael Ray Sullivan, 41, of Louisville, Ky., and Joseph C. Seidl, 39, of Sebree, Ky., were arrested Friday after a highway patrol trooper stopped them at Interstate 70 and Highway 54 in Kingdom City.

Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City, said the suspects gave conflicting reports about where they were headed.

During a search of the 1990 Ford Thunderbird, officers discovered $13,534 in cash, Ledford said.

In the trunk, the officers also found a "hobby-style" rocket, described as 3 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 4 inches in diameter, Ledford said.

Police also found three devices that looked like pipe bombs, but further examination found they were phony, Ledford said. Methamphetamine was also hidden inside those devices.

There was an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys that lifted the rocket to an upright position when the trunk was lifted. It could be ignited from inside the car, via power from the cigarette lighter, Ledford said.

Authorities also found more than two pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $145,000, inside the rocket, he said.

The rocket was ready for launching, Ledford said, but he did not know whether the vehicle trunk could be opened from inside the car.

Officers believe the rocket was set up to launch the contraband if it were detected, patrol Trooper Rich Ferrari said in a news release.

Ledford declined to speculate about the rocket's purpose.

"But they did have the meth inside the rocket, and it could be launched from inside the car," he said.

(C.M.L.W.)

07/06/05 01:46 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

(FINISHHIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

07/06/05 08:33 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

buwhahahaha!!!
"To the moon Alice!!!"

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07/06/05 08:34 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

I think they should have gotten some sleep before brainstorming with these ideas.

(Lloyd)

07/06/05 08:39 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

It would have been a lot easier to just obey the traffic laws.

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07/06/05 10:57 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

Model rockets are a hobby of mine, so I find this to be ironically funny. I can only imagine rigging up a rocket to jettison contraband from a vehicle in the case of an emergency. Mine would have worked correctly, those amateurs! Too classic!

(THE SPIRIT OFTRUTH)

07/06/05 11:04 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

This is quite interesting. How far exactly would that rocket have been able to travel?

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07/06/05 11:09 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

It depends what size engines they were using, and the rocket. Payload affects height dramatically too. If you're going to shoot payloads, you gotta have a good sized engine and know trajectory, wind direction, etc.

These guys probably tried to stuff a Walmart Estes rocket with their stash. In that case, I bet it would hardly reach 100 feet being shot from a moving car all loaded down like that. Funny scenario would be if it barely launched out of the trunk, and just crashed into the highway a few feet behind them for the police to pick up, haha.

(THE SPIRIT OFTRUTH)

07/06/05 11:20 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

I was imagining that same scenario the entire time I read the article.

Although I don't wish to see or hear about anyone getting busted for anything, it still made me laugh a bit.

(Mycobian)

07/06/05 12:24 PM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

LMFAO. What were they thinking

(Death Cup)

07/06/05 03:47 PM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

The cops would have probably found the rocket even if it did launch. A big rocket fires from the car and the cops will think nothing of it.

(Mycobian)

07/07/05 12:50 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

Officer#1 "Hey, did you see that rocket shoot from the trunk of that car?"
Officer#2 "Yeah, but it landed way over there & our shift is almost over."
Officer#1 "Yeah your right, what rocket???, I didn't see any rocket."
Officer#2 "What rocket indeed!!!"

(The VerbalHerman Munster)

07/07/05 01:00 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

Capatalistc nomad

(Positivelyscandalous)

07/07/05 11:42 AM

Re: Drug Rocket Fails to Take Off

a $4 model rocket can travel over 2000 feet on a good day, you could rig it up so that instead of firing a parachute it launched the contraband into the air... even if they did find the rocket they would not have found the goods, if properly done