Thieves steal five small planes

Mexico City: Armed men stole five small planes from a private airstrip in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa on Tuesday by overpowering a police officer and flying away, security forces said.

The group of around 20 men stormed the small airstrip at dawn, seized the officer's gun, tied him up, filled the planes with fuel and flew off, said Emma Quiroz, spokeswoman for the government's anti-organised crime operations in Sinaloa.

It was not clear if there was a link to drug gangs who use small aircraft to spirit cocaine through northern Mexico toward the United States. Quiroz's office said it was investigating whether any authorities had been complicit in the theft.

The office said in a statement that it was "taking the necessary actions to determine the whereabouts of these airplanes and the criminals who took part in the robbery".