CNN reports a light aircraft overloaded with cocaine crashed on take-off on its way to Australia.
Police say the crash exposed a Melbourne-based crime syndicate and led to the arrest of five men with alleged links to the Italian mafia.
The Cesna aircraft was stuffed with more than 1,100 pounds of cocaine. It went down while trying to leave Papua New Guinea on July 26.
Five suspects were arrested in Queensland and Victoria in recent days.
They’ve all been charged with conspiring to import over 500 kilograms of cocaine and a number of related offenses.
