BELGRADE — The Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is Montana's busiest airport for private aviation.
President and CEO Brian Sprenger said the airport sees around 10,000 private planes a year.
According to Belgrade Chief of Police, Dustin Lensing, last night, the airport requested assistance from Belgrade PD on a drug case.
WATCH: Customs officers seize hundreds of morphine vials from private plane in Bozeman
"A little after eight, we got a call from customs enforcement, and they were asking for assistance," said Lensing. "There was a drug seizure in the private airport section."
The police chief added that two passengers were flying with morphine from a foreign country.
According to court documents, a charter plane flew into the airport Monday night, and when their bags were checked by U.S. customs, one of the border protection officers found 374 vials of morphine in one of the passengers' bags. Another passenger's bag was carrying 86 vials of morphine.
The passengers are 44-year-old Christopher Morrison of Virginia and 41-year-old Hunter Terry of Bozeman.
Sprenger said airport security differs for private and commercial flights.
"Their security is done right at the aircraft," he said.
Waiting at long TSA lines and going through security is not routine for passengers traveling on private planes. Sprenger added that their security is either handled by the crew or a private security firm once they board.
"It's done at the aircraft, and because the number of people on those aircraft is smaller, it happens a lot quicker," said Sprenger.
Sprenger also said the majority of private planes arriving in Bozeman are domestic.
"Although we have about 350 arrivals a year coming from international origins," he explained. "Those are handled in the arrivals at the US customs facility."
The US customs facility at the airport is situated in the renovated old terminal building north of the air traffic control tower.
According to court documents, the two individuals who were arrested on Monday were traveling from an international location. Chief Lensing said they were coming from Central or South America.
“If an international flight comes in, they will screen it - whether it’s drugs, produce, or anything you’d have to declare on a customs declaration form," he said.
Lensing added that although morphine is an unusual drug to be trafficked, "a lot of drug addicted people are seeking various types of drugs they can get their hands on."
Both Terry and Morrison are being held in the Gallatin County Detention Center on $200,000 bonds.
