LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has terminated the services of a catering official for his involvement in a heroin smuggling attempt.
PIA spokesperson said in a statement that during interrogation the official had confessed that he was involved in the recent attempt of heroin smuggling through a PIA fight from Lahore airport.
Last week, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) took four PIA employees into custody in connection with a failed bid to smuggle 6kg of heroin (worth over Rs 60 million) to Dubai from Lahore. It was connected to an earlier raid where 13 employees of the national flag carrier were taken into custody. However, some of them had to be released as no evidence was found against them.
The raid was a part of a coordinated effort of the PIA administration and ANF to stem the flow of drugs smuggling through the national flag carrier’s aircraft. There have been several cases of heroin smuggling aboard PIA aircraft. In May this year, PIA maintenance crew discovered 27kg of heroin on board an aircraft.
