American pilots being freed by Panama

HOUSTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Two pilots from Houston held in Panama for months after alleged drug money was found in a passenger's baggage were being released Wednesday, their company said.

Private jet pilots Carl Moody and Kenny Chonoski had been jailed on suspicion of money laundering since May when Panamanian customs officials found $2.3 million in a passenger's luggage on a private Learjet chartered for a flight from Honduras to Panama.

Their employer, American Jet International, said the charges against the two pilots have been dropped, the Houston Chronicle reported.