PIA to sack attendants arrested in Paris for possessing drugs

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aims to sack two attendants arrested in France over possession and possible trafficking of drugs, sources informed Geo News on Thursday. 

PIA flight attendants Aamir Moin and Tanveer Gulzar were arrested last week over alleged possession of contraband on the flagship carrier's flight PK-749 in Paris.

“Investigations are being conducted into how both the attendants attempted to smuggle drugs,” a source told Geo News.

Contraband seized from PIA flight attendant in Paris

French authorities detained the accused, while PIA suspended him

The source further said that PIA authorities have asked the French court for a copy of its decision to imprison the two attendants for two years.

Earlier on Monday, Airports Security Force (ASF) chief Director General Major General Ali Abbas Haider said an investigation had been launched into the matter. 

Addressing ASF's passing-out parade, he said that the matter of PIA's flight attendants being held in Paris was being actively probed.

Such an incident is not a novelty for PIA, which is already plagued by financial woes.

In May 2017, 20 kilogrammes of contraband was seized from a London-bound flight of the national carrier. The drugs were found by the PIA's vigilance team concealed in the catering galley of PK-785.

Although the plane was cleared to fly to London, the smuggler remained unidentified.

Prior to that, heroin concealed in packets was seized from a PIA flight in an intelligence-based operation carried out by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Customs officials who investigated the discovery of narcotics, seized in London, believed the heroin was hidden in the plane while it was in Karachi.