Pilot faces loss of life penalty after smuggling 70,000 drugs and ‘flying whereas excessive’
A Malaysia Airlines pilot is facing the death penalty after 14 bags of ecstasy was found in his luggage after he landed a plane in Indonesia.
The pilot flew in from Malaysia(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A pilot high on a cocktail of powerful drugs faces the death penalty after allegedly smuggling 70,000 ecstasy pills. The 39-year-old, who has only been identified by his initials MSO, was arrested on Wednesday at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Indonesia after arriving from Malaysia.
The authorities did not identify the pilot’s airline but the flight number indicated it was a Malaysia Airlines plane. Customs officers found 14 bags of ecstasy containing more than 70,000 pills as well as four grams of meth, believed to be for personal use, in his hand luggage.
MSO is believed to have been under the impression his belongings would not be checked in the special customs lane for pilots and crew. However, an official stated the “monitoring we carry out is the same” for everyone, reported the Japan Times.
The pilot was found to be on drugs(Image: ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang, an airport customs official said: “The results of his urine test came back positive for meth, MDMA, and cocaine. So, at the time of the flight, he was under the influence.”
“What concerns all of us is that this person’s profession is a pilot, and at the time he arrived, he had just flown that plane from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia,” he said.
In a statement released today, Malaysia Airlines said: “Malaysia Airlines will extend its full cooperation to the relevant authorities in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
Indonesia has some of the world’s harshest penalties for drug trafficking. MSO is now facing the death penalty but the Southeast Asian country has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years.
The last death penalty was carried out in 2016, when one Indonesian and three Nigerians were executed by firing squad.
A massive quantity of drugs was found(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Back in January, a British couple who told Indonesian police that they didn’t know their luggage held £300,000 of cocaine were freed after only four months behind bars. The pair had initially claimed that they thought they were bringing “treats” to a pal.
Mum-of-three Lisa Stocker, 40, and her partner Jon Collyer, 39, had feared they might be executed under Indonesia’s strict drugs laws but they were sentenced in August to just a year, along with their accomplice Phineas Float, 31.
Their jail time was, surprisingly, slashed even further under laws that give reductions at Christmas and for an independence day holiday. Stocker and Collyer reportedly boarded flight QR963 from Bali to Doha at 6.50pm on Tuesday (December 30), letting them connect for a UK flight.
