PETALING JAYA: Police have identified a KLIA staff member they believe may be linked to the Malaysian pilot who was arrested in Indonesia last week for allegedly trafficking drugs.
Bukit Aman narcotics criminal investigation department director Hussein Omar Khan said the individual, who is in his 30s, was among the staff involved in security screening at KLIA, reported Harian Metro.
“We will call him soon to assist with investigations, and if necessary, we will arrest him,” he said at a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters today.
Hussein said KLIA’s security screening procedures require travellers to undergo four levels of checks.
“If they pass the first screening, which is conducted automatically through the scanning system, they will not proceed to the second level.
“However, if something is detected or if the authorities have concerns, they will be sent for the second and third levels of screening.
“In this case, if they pass the screening without anything suspicious being detected, they will be allowed to proceed,” he said.
He added that police held a meeting with the transport ministry yesterday, during which all parties agreed on the need to tighten security screening procedures at KLIA.
Hussein also said the pilot was believed to have obtained the drugs from an apartment in Ampang before checking in his luggage at KLIA and flying to Kota Kinabalu and later departing for Jakarta.
Hussein said police were working with their Indonesian counterparts to investigate how the suspect obtained the drugs.
He said police were also looking into how the suspect managed to bypass security screening at KLIA before leaving the country, and examining the wider distribution network, including possible links to an international syndicate in Indonesia.
“We are waiting for clearance from the Indonesian police. When the time is right, our officers will go there to interview the suspect,” he said.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise yesterday released CCTV footage showing the pilot being inspected at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta on July 29, where he was arrested for allegedly carrying 25kg of ecstasy pills and 2.7g of methamphetamine.
Indonesian authorities said the pilot previously smuggled narcotics into the country by exploiting the dedicated crew baggage handling system, concealing the drugs beneath clothing in a suitcase bearing a crew claim tag.
Eko Hadi Santoso, director of narcotics crimes at the national police’s criminal investigation department, said the suspect admitted that he had been instructed to smuggle the drugs to Jakarta in exchange for RM50,000.
