SriLankan Airlines Flight Attendants & Ground Staff Used As Mules to Smuggle Gold
Gold smuggling racketeers have once again commenced using Flight
Attendants of SriLankan
Airlines as mules to
smuggle gold into the country.
A 27 year old former Mihin Lanka
Flight Steward Meewala Arachchige Chanuka, who recently joined SriLankan
Airlines after the airlines merged, confessed to Custom Officers when he was
apprehended a few days ago, that he was promised a sum of Rs 40, 000 for
carrying the 6.5 kilo grams of gold valued at Rs 35 million.
This reported apprehension is now
been taken very seriously by Customs Officers as in the past certain Flight
Attendants of the national carrier were used as mules to assist gold smugglers
in various ways to traffic gold into the country.
The smuggling syndicates had
previously roped in many staff by offering then hefty sums as rewards,
especially those that had access to the aircraft.
Several staff including Flight
Attendants, Catering staff, Cleaning staff and the ramp Bus Drivers were all
part of a mafia style syndicate who were frequently used for these illegal
operations.
A senior airline staff member with
over three decades of experience speaking to Colombo Telegraph revealed as to
how airline staff were involved in assisting in the operation in the past.
Speaking on condition of anonymity as he is barred from speaking to the media
said “Once the passenger brings the gold on board the aircraft, a Flight
Attendant would be instructed by the passenger to either hide the contraband in
certain parts of the aircraft, which would then be removed by either the
Catering or Cleaning staff who boards the aircraft after its arrival”.
“On certain occasions the Flight Attendant assisting the smugglers would
be asked to leave the gold inside the Ramp Bus that is used to shuttle the
Flight Deck and Flight Attendants from the aircraft to the terminal building.
The ramp Bus Driver would do the needful thereafter” he went on to say.
As the risk factors in these two
instances are minimal so are the rewards.
He went on to add “However
the reward payment is much higher if a Flight Attendant is willing to
personally smuggle the gold out of the airport by himself. This is when a
passenger would bring the gold on board the aircraft and also hand it over to a
Flight Attendant. The gold bars would be neatly concealed in pouches and sewn
into a Velcro belt. The Flight Attendant would then strap the belt around his
torso and further cover up the tightly strapped contraband by wearing his
uniform jacket over it when exiting the airport”.
Meanwhile a source at the Custom
Office told Colombo Telegraph “We were lucky to nab this employee from
SriLankan Airlines as we got delayed to come in time to meet the incoming crew
upon its arrival. However after we heard that the entire crew had departed for
their respective homes in the company provided staff transport, we managed to
contact the airline and obtain the telephone number of the transport provider.
We then contacted the driver of the bus and found out the exact location he was
at and managed to intercept the smuggler with the gold, whilst he was on his
way. However after his apprehension he was asked to pay a penalty of Rs 2
million and we let him go after we confiscated the gold”.
SriLankan Airlines officials
wished to remain tight lipped when contacted for a comment.
However sources within In Flight
Services confirmed that their Management had obtained two written statements
from the Flight Stewardesses who were travelling in the same bus as the
apprehended smuggler and that the management had already commenced an internal
inquiry.
Meanwhile Colombo Telegraph
reliably learns that several Flight Attendants have either been terminated from
service after been nabbed for smuggling cigarettes into Paris and London.
In the two last reported cases
involving the smuggling of cigarettes, a Cabin Manager and Flight Stewardess
purchased 50 cartons of cigarettes at the departure duty free on their way to
Paris. However on arrival into Paris they were forewarned by the Paris station
staff that French Customs Officers were searching the bags of all incoming
Flight Crew that day. Fearing that they would be caught the Cabin Manager and
Stewardess decided to leave the 50 cartons of cigarettes which were transported
in the valise of the Cabin Manager on board prior to disembarking. However
information regarding this incident was leaked to the management of the airline
who subsequently terminated the services of these two Crew Members after
holding an inquiry.
In the last reported incident a
Cabin Manager pre-ordered 20 cartons of cigarettes using the duty free purchase
facility accorded to passengers. He ordered these cartons of cigarettes by
calling the airline and posing as a travelling passenger. However on his
arrival into London Heathrow, he was nabbed by UK Customs Officers when a spot
check was been conducted and a further 30 cartons of cigarettes was found in
his luggage. He was deported by the UK Customs Officials and sent back to
Colombo on the same aircraft. Incidentally his sister also a former Sri Lankan
Airlines Stewardess and who subsequently worked for Emirates Airline was also
caught smuggling Rs 700,000 stuffed in pineapples out of Colombo. In her case
she was nabbed when she was travelling as a passenger back to Dubai.
The senior airline staff member
conclude by saying “This entire gold smuggling incident has opened a can of worms
and has brought about too much shame for us airline professionals who have
served SriLankan Airlines dedicatedly for over 30 years. Our reputation is
simply just going to the dogs now. We not only have Flight Attendants who are
smugglers, we currently have a captain who was also absorbed from Mihin Lanka
who is evading arrest in Singapore for shoplifting. He has been protected by
the senior management of the airline who has repeatedly refused to roster him
on any flights to Singapore fearing his arrest on arrival for evading his
shoplifting court case. We also have many bootleggers among our Cabin Crew who
take advantage of the 25% staff discount for duty free purchase on board and
supply all the reputed night clubs in Sri Lanka. So now literally we have been
branded as smugglers, shoplifters and bootleggers”.
colombotelegraph
By Janaka
Ranaweera
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