HMM: Plane crash in Malta kills five people on surveillance operation.

The Maltese government said the plane was taking part in an operation to track illicit trafficking routes, including human and drugs trafficking. The Fairchild Metroliner crashed at 7:20 a.m. local time on Monday, Malta International Airport said.

“Our thoughts are with the families of the people involved in the accident today,” the airport said in a statement.

The Maltese government later said that an investigation was under way. It said in a statement: “The flight was part of a French Customs surveillance operation which has been taking place for the past five months, with the aim of tracing routes of illicit trafficking of all sorts, including human and drug trafficking amongst others.

Malta lies just north of Libya.