Highs and lows: Two CAA officials held for smuggling heroin

“Hopefully they will reveal the names of their accomplices,” says ANF official

RAWALPINDI:

Two Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) employees were arrested at Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Tuesday for attempting to smuggle heroin abroad.

An Anti-Narcotic Force official, requesting anonymity, informed that the CAA employees, electrician Masood Hussain and aircraft mechanic Muhammad Sabir, were under observation after the ANF received a tip-off.

“On Tuesday, they came to dispatch the drug to Holland in cargo. They had concealed the powder in eight books,” he said.

He added that they were arrested at the cargo counter when they were dropping off the books. When the cargo was searched, 3.5 kg of heroin was recovered from the books.

The ANF official said that the cargo staff’s connivance cannot be ruled out, adding that both CAA officials are under interrogation.

“Hopefully they will reveal the names of their accomplices,” he added.

Separately, an ANF team also arrested Hamayun Afzal of Chakwal after finding 1.1 kg of amphetamines concealed in his carry-on luggage. He was booked on a flight to Bahrain.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2014.