Plane carrying tons of cocaine crashes in southern Mexico

An airplane carrying more than 3 tons of cocaine crashed Monday in southern Mexico after being chased by military helicopters, local media reported.

The plane crashed in the town of Tixkokob, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) east of Merida in the state of Yucatan, the Mexican newspaper Reforma said.

Soldiers found 132 bags containing about 3.6 tons (3.3 metric tons) of cocaine, and witnesses saw military helicopters following the aircraft until it crashed, it said.

"The plane was flying over the town for almost two hours ... that's why we called the army,'' Tixkokob assistant police chief Ernesto Hernandez told Reforma.

The Televisa network broadcast images of soldiers guarding dozens of black bags lined up in rows next to the plane, which had broken into two pieces.

Luis Saiden, a state civil protection official, told Reforma the army said no bodies were found among the wreckage.

A spokesman who answered the phone at Mexico's Defense Department said he could not confirm the report.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/25/apworld/20070925111257&sec=apworld