Two Flight Attendants Caught in Biggest Drug Bust in Decades

Three and half years after a JetBlue flight attendant was caught trying to smuggle 60 pounds of cocaine through LAX, two more flight attendants attempted the same stunt, this time in Hong Kong.

Two unnamed flight attendants have appeared in court after being caught smuggling dozens of kilograms’ worth of cocaine into Hong Kong. The drugs are worth about 46 million South African rands (three million U.S. dollars) and were discovered during an operation, code-named “Bullseye”, created to combat the trafficking of drugs through Hong Kong International Airport by passengers and industry employees.

The employees are confirmed to be those of South African Airways. They allegedly attempted to smuggle drugs on two separate flights from Johannesburg to Hong Kong last month. Both were detained and arrested by officials who described this bust as the largest of its kind in the past decade. They also explained, “during the operation, customs officers from Airport Command seized about 12 kilograms of suspected cocaine concealed inside two black plastic bags on September 22. After a follow-up investigation, a 39-year-old woman was arrested at a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui on September 23. They also seized about 6.3 kilograms of suspected cocaine concealed inside a plastic bag of a 35-year-old man who was also arrested”. The crew members remain in custody and have both been charged with one count of drug trafficking. If convicted, they could face a penalty of anywhere from a $650,000 fine or life in prison.

The arrests should not come as a shock though, as insider threat continues to become more and more of a concern across the industry. SAA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, commented, “SAA would like to emphasize that the airline remains intolerant of any criminality by anyone of its employees. The course of action the company may pursue will be informed by the company policy and the outcomes of the cases currently in court. “

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