NST Leader: Plugging cracks in cross-border drug trade through shared intelligence

AS enforcement by Malaysia and Indonesia gets more robust, drug syndicates operate across borders and employ more complex methods to evade detection by authorities. From using the sea and land routes they are now flying them in, not by passengers but by pilots and other crew members. In July, a Malaysia Airlines pilot managed to slip past detectors with 26kg of ecstasy pills hidden in his luggage. An alert Indonesian Customs officer at the Soekarno-Harta International Airport spotted the drugs and arrested him on July 29. He also tested positive for cocaine, ecstasy pills and methamphetamine. According to a Bernama report he is said to have told the Indonesian authorities that he has been acting as a drug courier for the syndicates three times. On the first time by transporting methamphetamine to Sabah. On the second time by transporting the same drug to Jakarta. On the two occasions he passed through without being detected. On the third occasion in July he was arrested. This is why Malaysia's and Indonesia's narcotics crime investigation authorities are strengthening intelligence-sharing to combat cross-border drug syndicates, a disclosure made at the 14th bilateral meeting. Malaysia's Narcotics Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the meeting provided an opportunity for both parties to share their experiences in tackling drug smuggling and compare notes on syndicates' links in Malaysia and Indonesia. Joint operations and intelligence-sharing are crucial if both countries want to combat cross-border drug smuggling. One positive sign of the information sharing is the arrest of six Malaysians who supplied the drugs to the Malaysia Airlines pilot arrested in Jakarta. This is not the first time a Malaysia Airlines pilot has been involved in transporting drugs to another country. Two other pilots of the airlines were arrested in Australia. There is a broader concern that Malaysia Airlines needs to address: how come a pilot with links to drug syndicates is still in its employment? Whatever happened to its safety and security policy? The real test for the airlines and the airport authorities is to identify why the system didn't detect the 26kg of drugs. We are told that all the cabin crew and others were tested. This is a pointless exercise because it is after the fact. Vulnerability must be tested and fixed earlier — not after the vulnerability fails. Was the pilot adequately screened? Was he tested for fitness to fly? There are so many questions but very few answers. Malaysian authorities are coy when it comes to transparency. Let's not forget that it is not just the safety of the cabin crews but also that of passengers that are at risk.