Islamabad: The security and vigilance team of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 kg heroin from the country’s southern port-city of Karachi to Saudi Arabia, officials said.
PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said the airline’s team recovered the heroin at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport during routine pre-departure search of the plane.
He said that the flight, PK-7121, was scheduled to travel from Karachi to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
The heroin was hidden in a secret compartment of the plane. Investigation was being carried out to arrest the culprit.
Officials from Airport Security Force, Anti-Narcotics Force and Pakistan Customs at the airport were also called in to investigate the heroin and the plane.
The custom officials arrested three PIA workers and sent them for investigations, local Urdu TV channel Dunya said.
The flight was delayed for 10 hours due to the incident and the spokesperson said that all passengers were accommodated in a hotel and later sent to Jeddah after the aircraft was cleared by the relevant agencies.
–IANS