Cops: On-Duty Bus Driver Ferried $3M in Drugs

Passengers aboard a Bronx city bus last week might have been surprised to learn that a major drug deal was taking place in front of them. And as the Daily News reports, it was the driver himself who ended up in handcuffs. The tale of the unusual bust involving 8 pounds of heroin worth $3 million began the morning of April 17, when customs officials at JFK busted a traveler from Africa with the drugs in his Samsonite. He agreed to proceed with his deal under the watch of federal agents and called the cell number he had been provided, reports the Smoking Gun.

His contact turned out to be a 50-year-old bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority named Francis Abankwa. The traveler boarded Abankwa's bus in the Bronx with the drugs and stayed right through until the end of the route, remaining on board while all the other passengers exited. After he and Abankwa exited and started heading toward Abankwa's car, the feds swooped in for the arrest. Both face felony narcotics conspiracy charges, and Abankwa is looking at 10 years in prison if convicted. On the bright side, notes New York, "at least they let Abankwa finish his route." (More weird crimes stories.)