QUEENSLAND, Austrlia - A small plane bound for Australia crashed shortly after takeoff in Papua New Guinea last week – partially because it was weighed down by $80 million worth of cocaine stowed as cargo.Five men who are members of a Melbourne-based crime syndicate were arrested in Australia and charged with conspiring to import 500 kilograms, or about 1,102 pounds, of cocaine from Papua New Guinea into Queensland, Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement released on Saturday.
The suspects face life in prison if convicted.Police allege the group arranged for a Cessna model light aircraft to fly illegally from Mareeba Airfield in Queensland, Australia, to Papua New Guinea at about 3,000 feet to avoid radar detection on July.