Avsec screening focuses on arms, not contraband, admits minister

 Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail admits this is an area that needs improvement, with the scope of baggage screening to be expanded.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail maintained that baggage screening at Malaysian airports was in line with international standards under the International Civil Aviation Organisation. (Envato Elements pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has admitted that baggage screening conducted by Aviation Security (Avsec) focuses more on detecting weapons than contraband.

Saifuddin said existing scanning machines were functioning well and top of the line, capable of detecting both dangerous items and prohibited substances, Bernama reported.

Nonetheless, he said they were looking into improving the scope of baggage screening to detect other prohibited items, especially drugs.

“From the perspective of the screening scope, the focus (currently) is more on weaponry than contraband.

“We see this as one of the areas for improvement that we need to focus on, in line with the expertise of the officers conducting the screening.”

However, Saifuddin maintained that baggage screening at Malaysian airports was in line with international standards under the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

He said a special meeting involving home ministry agencies will be held tomorrow to look into improved security measures at airports.

The home and transport ministries have been given two weeks to come up with a comprehensive plan to tighten security measures at KLIA.

This comes after a Malaysian pilot was arrested in Jakarta with about 25kg of drugs. He had managed to bypass baggage screening at KLIA without being detected. - FMT