A Malaysia Airlines pilot who had just flown a plane full of passengers while high on a cocktail of hard drugs was caught red-handed trying to walk 26 kilos of pure MDMA, more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets, straight off the aircraft and into Jakarta.
Shocking CCTV footage released by Indonesian customs shows the 39-year-old Malaysian co-pilot, identified as Mohd Saufi bin Othman, casually collecting a large silver hard-shell suitcase from the baggage carousel at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport while still in full uniform.
Moments later officers swooped. Inside the case they found 14 carefully packed bags containing a staggering 70,114 ecstasy pills weighing around 26kg, plus a small amount of methamphetamine hidden in his hand luggage. The haul is estimated to be worth around 60 billion rupiah – roughly £3 million on the street.
Even more chilling: a urine test revealed the pilot had cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA in his system at the time he was flying the Malaysia Airlines flight MH727 from Kuala Lumpur, carrying around 170 passengers.
Customs official Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang told reporters: “The results of his urine test came back positive for meth, MDMA and cocaine. So, at the time of the flight, he was under the influence. What concerns all of us is that this person’s profession is a pilot.”
The pilot allegedly admitted this was his third drug-smuggling run and that he had been promised 50,000 Malaysian ringgit (about £9,000) for delivering the consignment. Officers also discovered a small bottle of what they believe was clean urine, apparently ready in case he was drug-tested.
Indonesian authorities have charged him under the country’s notoriously tough anti-drug laws. Conviction could mean life behind bars – or the death penalty.
Malaysia Airlines has launched an internal investigation and said it “does not tolerate any form of misconduct.” Aviation authorities in both countries are now probing how the drugs cleared security in Kuala Lumpur and whether the pilot was part of a wider international network.
One aviation expert said the case was “an absolute nightmare scenario” – a commercial pilot allegedly operating a passenger jet while intoxicated and simultaneously trafficking a massive quantity of Class A drugs.
Indonesia does not mess about when it comes to narcotics. This pilot may now face the ultimate price for what investigators describe as a reckless, greed-driven operation that put every single passenger’s life at risk.
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