RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight attendant caught smuggling foreign currency at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport has been sent to judicial custody.
Customs officials brought the suspect before a judge on Saturday and asked for her detention.
According to customs authorities, the flight attendant was detained on Friday after a large amount of Saudi riyals was found in her socks during a body search. A video of the flight attendant taking out the currency notes has also gone viral on social media.
Later, an FIR was registered against the flight attendant, identified only by her initials A.Q. According to the complaint, the suspect, a resident of Vehari, was boarding PIA flight PK 203 from Lahore to Dubai when she was stopped by customs officials at the airport.
Raja Bilal Naseem, deputy customs officer at Allama Iqbal International Airport, told Dawn that 140,000 Saudi riyals (around Rs 10.4 million) were recovered from her property during the search.
He said customs had intelligence reports of a possible attempt to smuggle money on that flight.
The suspect was booked under Section 139 of the Customs Act 1969, which states that any passenger or crew member who attempts to smuggle out currency, gold, precious metals or stones by concealing them in luggage to evade customs authorities will be charged for the crime of smuggling. .
A PIA spokesperson said the flight attendant would be terminated immediately if found guilty after the trial.
