Busted: Heroin seized at the airport

KARACHI:

One kilogram of heroin was seized by the Drug Enforcement Cell of Pakistan Customs and a Pakistani-born Ukrainian was arrested at the airport for attempting to smuggle it out from Jinnah International Airport to Donetsk, Ukraine.

According to Pakistan Customs, the suspect, Makbul Khan, could not adequately answer the customs officer who was interrogating him and as a result his luggage was thoroughly checked after which the heroin was found.

Seven hundred grams of the drug, of very fine quality according to customs, was concealed in false cavities and the metal framing his trolley suitcase. Three hundred grams were concealed in the carrier’s shoe insoles.

The passenger was traveling on Dubai Airlines flight FZ332 via Dubai onwards to Ukraine.

Khan is being prosecuted under the Control of Narcotics Substances Act of 1997 and the case has been registered against him. Interrogations reveal that the suspect was born in Peshawar and is a medical doctor by profession.

Two more passengers were earlier arrested from the airport. One passenger was attempting to struggle Amphetamines to Kuala Lumpur and the other was trying to smuggle heroin into Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. A third passenger was arrested for trying to smuggle foreign currency outside the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2012.