By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton

TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - Maintenance workers with American Airlines have discovered more than 26 pounds (11.8 kg) of cocaine in a Boeing 757 undergoing routine maintenance at Tulsa International Airport, officials said on Wednesday.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office was called to the airport’s maintenance center after airline employees found packages of a white, powdery substance in the plane on Tuesday night, the sheriff's office said.

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration were called in and removed 10 square packages, it said.

The packages were positively identified as cocaine and are being held by the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

American Airlines is working with the DEA and federal agencies, which are trying to determine how the cocaine made its way onto the aircraft, a spokesman said.

As of Wednesday morning, no arrests have been made in connection with the discovery.





(Reporting by Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton in Tulsa and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by James Dalgleish)