SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A small planed loaded with bundles of cocaine crashed into a lake in northern New Mexico on Sunday morning, apparently killing all on board, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Police Lieutenant Eric Garciasaid the number of people aboard the aircraft was not immediately known but there were no signs that anybody had survived the crash.
All access to the 4-mile long, 3-mile-wide Heron Lake was closed after bundles of what turned out to be cocaine began floating to the surface, Garcia said.
He said state police responded with boat and diver teams after fishermen on the lake reported seeing the plane nose-dive into the water at about 11 a.m. local time. The plane was fully submerged, Garcia said
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque reported there were thunderstorms and wind gusts of up to 30 miles an hour in the area at the time of the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration regional office in Fort Worth, Texas, also was investigating but had no further information.
Heron Lake State Park, about 100 miles north of Santa Fe, is located on the edge of the reservoir.
(Reporting by Dennis Carroll; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)
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