Malaysian Pilot Smuggling Meth: Flew Under the Influence, Carried Spare Urine
The drug smuggling case involving a Malaysian Airlines pilot continues to reveal new facts. In addition to being suspected of acting as a courier for methamphetamine and ecstasy, the suspect Mohd Saufi bin Othman (39) was also found to be carrying a bottle of urine, allegedly prepared to deceive drug tests.
Mohd Saufi was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after customs officers became suspicious of his luggage during an X-ray inspection at Terminal 3 International Arrivals on Tuesday (28/7) at around 23.30 local time. The suspicion led to an examination of the suitcase and its owner in the customs inspection room.
“Officers noticed a suspicious suitcase after it was collected by its owner, one Mohd Saufi bin Othman, a pilot with a foreign airline,” said the Director of Narcotics Crime at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, on Thursday (30/7).
Upon inspection, officers found 14 large packets and one small packet of methamphetamine inside the suitcase. The discovery was then reported to the Narcotics Crime Directorate of Bareskrim for further handling.
During questioning, Mohd Saufi, who has now been named a suspect, admitted that he had been ordered by someone to bring methamphetamine to Jakarta for a payment of RM50,000.
Further investigation revealed that the suspect had been carrying a small bottle of urine. According to Satria Yudhatama, customs spokesman at Soekarno-Hatta, the bottle was allegedly prepared as a precaution in case a drug test was carried out at any time.
“Based on information from the surveillance unit, a bottle containing urine was indeed found. It was a precaution in case a urine test was conducted,” he said.
Nevertheless, the bottle was not used when officers carried out a urine test on the suspect. The bottle was found stored inside Mohd Saufi’s bag.
“Inside the bag of the suspect, pilot MSO, a small bottle containing a yellow liquid was found, which turned out to be urine. According to his confession, the bottle contained ‘clean’ urine before he consumed narcotics. So, if there were a sudden urine test by the airline or aviation authorities, he would use the contents of the bottle,” he explained.
The results of the urine test conducted by officers showed that Mohd Saufi was positive for three types of narcotics: methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine.
“The urine test results showed he was positive for methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine. So he was using at the time of the flight,” said the Head of Soekarno-Hatta Customs, Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang, to reporters on Sunday (2/8).
The findings indicate that the suspect was under the influence of narcotics whilst carrying out his duty of flying the aircraft.
“So, at the time of the flight, he was using (drugs),” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines stated that it respects the ongoing legal process in Indonesia and will cooperate with the investigation being conducted by local authorities.
“Malaysia Airlines wishes to reaffirm that it does not tolerate any form of violation and is currently conducting an internal review of the matter,” the airline said, as reported by Free Malaysia Today on Friday (31/7).
The airline also stressed that safety, security and operational integrity remain the company’s top priorities.