Pilot caught with 70,000 ecstasy pills in luggage, Indonesian police say

Indonesian police last week said officers had arrested a pilot caught smuggling 26 kg of ecstasy pills and a package of methamphetamine shortly after he arrived at Jakarta’s international airport.

The 39-year-old Malaysian national was also allegedly under the influence of narcotics while on duty, Eko Hadi Santoso, director of narcotics crimes at the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, told the Associated Press.

The drugs were discovered by customs officers at the arrivals terminal at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, after they noticed a suspicious suitcase during an X-ray screening.

The luggage was later collected by the suspect, whom police identified as a pilot for Malaysian Airlines on flight MH727 from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, Santoso said, adding that the pilot and the suitcase were escorted to a separate area for further examination.

Police said they found 14 packages containing 70,114 ecstasy pills, weighing about 26 kg (57 pounds), along with a separate stash of methamphetamine.

Police narcotics investigators took over the case.

“He has been named a suspect and detained,” Santoso said during a news conference at the airport on Friday where police had put the seized drugs on display.

“Investigators are still conducting further inquiries to develop the network above him,” he said.

Officers also seized a small bottle of urine that investigators allege was prepared to falsify drug test results if needed during the inspection process, airport authorities said in an Instagram post.

While being questioned, the suspect allegedly told investigators he had been instructed by an unnamed individual to transport the ecstasy to Jakarta in exchange for 50,000 Malaysian ringgit (about USD $11,700), Santoso said.

The pilot was told he would receive further instructions upon arrival in Jakarta and that the drugs would be collected from his hotel by another individual, investigators say. The pilot also admitted to smuggling drugs on two other occasions, Santoso told the press conference.

The suspect reportedly told investigators that he had previously delivered methamphetamine to Sabah, Malaysia, and on a later occasion trafficked seven kg (15 pounds) of methamphetamine to Jakarta.

Last week’s shipment was intercepted before it could complete its journey. A drug test administered to the suspect showed positive results for methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine, Santoso said.

The pilot is being investigated under Indonesian narcotics laws, which carry severe penalties for smuggling large quantities of drugs, including the possibility of the death penalty.

Malaysia Airlines said it was cooperating with authorities and had launched an internal review of the incident.

“Malaysia Airlines wishes to reiterate that it does not tolerate any form of misconduct and is currently undertaking an internal review of the matter,” the airline said in a statement cited by Malaysian media on Friday.

Airport authorities said they believe traffickers exploited special privileges that are typically granted to airline crews around the world, allowing them to pass through international airports under different procedures from regular passengers.

“At check-in in Kuala Lumpur, the baggage followed a different channel because the claim tag identified it as crew baggage,” Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonga, head of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Customs Office, said.

— with files from the Associated Press