The cabin crew of Malindo Air has been accused of helping to smuggle millions of dollars worth of heroin and methamphetamine from Asia to Australia as part of a multinational syndicate.
Two members of the in-flight team were arrested along with six others and charged with four counts of importing controlled drugs, CNN reported.
The Malaysia-based carrier’s crew have been smuggling in drugs on their persons on behalf of the crime syndicate, Australian investigators allege. One of the investigation’s “key players” said they had made at least 20 such trips.
“(This) has been going on for a long period of time,” said Asst. Commissioner Tess Walsh, spokeswoman for Australian Federal Police’s Crime Command.
“Malindo Air stands ready to cooperate with all the relevant authorities be it in Australia or in Malaysia in this regard,” a statement from the airline’s head of PR and communications, Andrea Liong, reads. “(The accused) has also been suspended with immediate effect pending termination.”
The police operation targeted a “highly organized” Vietnamese crime syndicate based in Melbourne and operating out of the southern city for some years, Walsh told CNN, adding that they suspect the syndicate has been operating across Australia, undetected, for more than five years.
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