Fifteen members of a South African Airlines flight crew were arrested at Heathrow airport on Monday after cocaine worth R3,6-million (£250 000) was discovered in a bag on an overnight flight from Johannesburg.
The crew were still being questioned late on Monday night by officers from HM Revenue & Customs who were investigating links to arrests in January, when 15 crew from the same airline were questioned after R4,4-million (£310 000) worth of dagga and cocaine were found in three bags on the same route.
Monday’s arrests were made after UK Border Agency officers discovered the 5kg of cocaine during a search close to the baggage reclaim area. The case was passed to HMRC, who questioned the suspects.
”Those arrested are now being held in custody and will be interviewed by HMRC investigation officers,” said Bob Gaiger, an HMRC spokesperson at Heathrow. ”Crew members are subject to the same customs checks as any other person when entering the UK. HMRC, together with UKBA, play a vital role in the fight to prevent illegal drugs from entering the UK and in protecting our communities from the violence and corruption that always accompany this hideous trade.”
The discovery is the second such incident involving SAA in a month.
On 21 January, a crew of 10 women and five men were questioned after the discovery of 50kg of cannabis, with a street value of R2,6-million (£150 000) and 4kg of cocaine, worth R2,3-million (£160 000) on their flight from Johannesburg.
The crew, including the three pilots, were released on unconditional bail and ordered to report back to HMRC investigators at Heathrow airport’s police station on 23 March.
Robyn Chalmers, SAA’s head of group corporate affairs, said on Monday: ”An investigation in Johannesburg, involving SAA Aviation Security and
the SAPS Crime Intelligence Unit, is also under way to establish how security procedures were breached,” adding that the company was cooperating fully with British investigation authorities.
”SAA remains committed to a zero tolerance approach towards the use of the airline’s services for any criminal activity and will continue to closely monitor the situation going forward,” she said.
SAA is currently in turmoil after the suspension of its chief executive, Khaya Ngqula. The airline’s board has commissioned an independent investigation into corruption allegations surrounding Ngqula.
A spokesperson for HMRC said the arrests were the first time in recent memory that airline crews had been suspected of smuggling into the UK anything more than a small amount of tobacco over the legal allowance. – guardian.co.uk