Drug syndicate infiltrates airlines, exploiting crew baggage rules to smuggle narcotics

A Malaysia Airlines pilot was arrested at an airport after allegedly flying a commercial aircraft while under the influence of drugs and attempting to smuggle narcotics into Indonesia. Authorities believe a drug syndicate has been exploiting the separate baggage-handling procedures that apply to airline crew to move contraband across borders.

Indonesia's National Police Criminal Investigation Agency arrested the Malaysia Airlines pilot, identified only as A, 39, on charges including violations of the country's narcotics law, according to AP, Reuters, AFP and Yonhap. He is accused of attempting to smuggle 70,000 ecstasy tablets and 4 grams of methamphetamine from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta on Tuesday.

On the day of the incident, A flew from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Customs officers there spotted a suspicious suitcase during an X-ray screening of baggage and traced it back to A.

A urine test conducted after he was handed over to police returned positive results for methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine. Indonesian customs authorities said A had been acting as a drug courier and appeared to have been under the influence of narcotics during the flight.

Eko Hadi Santoso, head of the Indonesian National Police's narcotics crime division, said A had been detained after being named a suspect. He added that investigators were conducting further inquiries to identify the network above him.

In his police statement, A said he had been instructed to transport the drugs to Jakarta in exchange for 50,000 ringgit (about 17 million won), paid by another individual. He added that he had been expecting further instructions from a contact in Malaysia after arriving in Jakarta, and that someone was to come to his hotel to collect the drugs.

A also confessed to Indonesian police that this was his third offense, admitting he had carried drugs on two previous occasions. He said he had previously transported methamphetamine to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo and had later smuggled 7 kilograms of methamphetamine into Jakarta.

Malaysia Airlines said it was cooperating with authorities over the case involving its pilot and had launched an internal investigation.

Indonesian customs authorities have raised alarm that drug-smuggling networks have penetrated the aviation industry by exploiting the separate baggage procedures that apply to airline crew. In June, Australian police arrested a Thai Airways flight attendant on charges of smuggling 1 kilogram of heroin into the country.

Henky Tomuang, head of customs at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, said crew baggage receives a separate tag at check-in in Kuala Lumpur, and that the distinct handling procedures for airline crew appeared to have been exploited for drug smuggling.

Indonesia enforces strict anti-narcotics laws, with drug trafficking offenses carrying a maximum penalty of death. In 2005, a drug-smuggling ring was caught attempting to traffic heroin out of the resort island of Bali. Two Australians in the group were executed a decade later, in 2015.