About Rick Leiches: The Cessna 310 That Beat DEA Radar
A small-town aviation prodigy outsmarted America’s toughest drug dragnet. His weapon: a legally certified, heavily modified Cessna 310. Dive into the true story of Rick Leiches, the Scranton businessman who turned Air America into a front-row seat on the Medellin pipeline. See how hidden fuel bladders, reinforced wings, custom avionics, and a secret radar map let him slip past patrols, ride straight through a storm, and pop up like a commuter hop at 1,500 feet. Discover the 73rd meridian route authorities weren’t watching, the crooked customs tip that changed everything, and the codeword radio net spanning two continents. Then the twist: a Tampa trial, weekend coke runs during court, a banker named Michael Coffey, and a desperate dash to St. Eustatius that didn’t end the way he planned. How far can ingenuity go before it crosses a line? Watch the full episode to see the tactics, the manhunt, and the moment it all unraveled.
Rick Leiches: The Cessna 310 That Beat DEA Radar is presented by World's Greatest Heists. Its listed runtime is 23 minutes. The source link and publisher attribution are provided with the embedded film.
As a society documentary, Rick Leiches: The Cessna 310 That Beat DEA Radar uses leiches, cessna, radar as its central frame. Social documentaries work best as invitations to examine systems through lived experience. Distinguish individual testimony from wider claims, and consider which institutions, incentives and inequalities shape the choices shown.
What to consider before watching
- What evidence, testimony or observation does the film use to explain leiches, cessna, radar?
- Which people, institutions or historical conditions most influence the story told in Rick Leiches: The Cessna 310 That Beat DEA Radar?
- How does World's Greatest Heists' framing affect the documentary's emphasis, and which perspectives may deserve further research?
Topics covered in this documentary
Documentary details and original source
- Title
- Rick Leiches: The Cessna 310 That Beat DEA Radar
- Category
- Society
- Runtime
- 23 minutes
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- World's Greatest Heists
Free Documentary Vault provides independent discovery, organization and editorial context. The film remains hosted by its original publisher, who controls availability and playback.






