Drug-carrying passengers busted at Karachi and Peshawar airports

Two passengers were arrested at Karachi and Peshawar airports after authorities discovered drugs hidden in soap bars and luggage compartments, officials said on Monday.

The arrests were made during separate incidents involving outbound flights to Jeddah and Bahrain.

According to the Airport Security Force (ASF), officers seized 2.652 kilograms of heroin from a passenger at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.

The suspect, identified as Salamullah, was en route to Jeddah when the drugs were found concealed in soap bars placed in his luggage.

In a similar incident at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport, ASF personnel discovered 700 grams of crystal meth, also known as ice heroin, hidden within the lining of a passenger's bag.

The passenger, Atif, was attempting to board a flight to Bahrain when the drugs were detected during routine screening.

ASF officials became suspicious after inspecting the luggage of both passengers, leading to further searches.

The drugs were subsequently handed over to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for further investigation and legal proceedings.

Both passengers were taken into custody, and initial interrogations have begun as part of the ongoing probe.

The ASF continues to implement strict measures to prevent the smuggling of illicit substances through Pakistan’s airports.

In another case,a drug-smuggling bid was foiled at the Islamabad International Airport.

As many as 84 capsules full of drugs were recovered from the stomach of a passenger travelling to Bahrain from the Islamabad International Airport.

In total, more than half a kilogram of narcotics was swallowed by the passenger in the shape of capsules.

The Anti-Narcotics Force registered a case against the passenger and launched an investigation.

An ANF spokesperson said that Kashif Ahmed, a passenger from Bonair, was travelling to Bahrain from Islamabad via PIA flight PK-187 when the ANF personnel took the passenger into custody on suspicion and interrogated him.

During the investigation, the passenger disclosed that he had drug-filled capsules in his stomach.

The passenger was shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi where the capsules were recovered by doctors.

Of the 84 capsules recovered, 78 contained heroin and six contained ice powder (methamphetamine), the ANF spokesperson said.

The drugs contained in 84 capsules weighed 644 grams of heroin and 35 grams of ice powder.

The spokesperson said that the value of recovered drugs in the global market is worth millions of rupees.