Manila-bound private jet intercepted at Subang Airport, four nabbed in Laos-linked drug bust

 

Four people, including a pilot who reportedly owns the company behind a private jet implicated in a 521kg methamphetamine seizure in Laos, were detained at Subang Airport today, according to a media report.

The pilot, co-pilot and two female crew members were preparing to depart for Manila when a joint enforcement team comprising the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID), aviation security personnel (Avsec) and Special Branch Travel Control Officers (TCO) intercepted their aircraft at a hangar at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport.

Citing sources, the New Straits Times reported the pilot owns the company that owns both the aircraft intercepted today and the private jet linked to the Oct 1 seizure in Laos.

The Border Control and Protection Agency Port Klang commander Nik Ezanee Faisal reportedly confirmed that enforcement personnel moved in before the aircraft could take off, with all four on board.

“The four were detained as part of a joint operation involving the agency, Petaling Jaya police, NCID, Avsec and TCO.

“The NCID will take the four into custody for further investigations,” he was quoted as saying by the English-language daily.

According to the report, the aircraft was configured for medical evacuation operations and was scheduled to pick up a patient in Manila before transporting the patient to Japan.

The two female crew members were believed to be medical personnel.

13 detained to date

The arrests are the latest development in an investigation into an attempt to transport 521kg of crystal methamphetamine aboard a private jet from Luang Prabang, Laos, to Manila.

Lao authorities have so far detained 13 people - a Singaporean pilot, Malaysian co-pilot, Filipino passenger and 10 Lao nationals comprising three ground-handling company employees and seven airport X-ray operators.

The NST report did not reveal the nationalities of those arrested today.

Yesterday, NCID director Hussein Omar Khan, who confirmed the arrest of the Malaysian co-pilot, said the drugs seized in Laos were intended for distribution in Manila.

He also said Malaysian police had opened an investigation and would send NCID officers to Laos to conduct questioning and establish the syndicate’s links to Malaysia. - Mkini