Ken Burnstine

Kenneth G. Burnstine (died 16 June 1976) was an American drug smuggler and pilot who was described by the Associated Press in 1981 as "one of America's most daring drug smugglers". At the time of his death in an aircraft accident, Burnstine was cooperating with federal prosecutors having been sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to create a $500m drug trafficking ring based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He served in Korea in 1955 before being sent to Marine Aircraft Group 11 in Atsugi, Japan, where he was given counterintelligence credentials.

In January 1974 a pet lioness of Burnstine's escaped his property in Fort Lauderdale and attacked a child. Also in 1974, Burnstine won the Reno Air Races in a North American P-51 Mustang.

In December 1974 Burnstine was arrested and charged with drug smuggling, with federal agents noting that three Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar aircraft that crashed with drugs on board in Florida in 1974 had been traced to Burnstine's leasing company. His P-51 crashed before he was indicted in February 1975, and became an informant in several drug cases, including one involving Mitchell WerBell III.