Cabin crew for international airline Malindo Air have been accused of helping to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine worth millions of dollars from Asia to Australian cities, as part of a multinational syndicate.

Australian Federal Police have arrested two flight crew and six other people as part of a six-month exercise codenamed Operation Sunrise. Four women in their 30s and 40s were among those held and four charges of importing controlled drugs have been filed.

Flight attendants from Malindo Air, a Malaysia-based carrier which is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Lion Air, have been smuggling in drugs on their persons on behalf of the crime syndicate, Australian investigators allege. One of the investigation’s “key players” said they had made at least 20 such trips.

“(This) has been going on for a long period of time,” said Asst. Commissioner Tess Walsh, spokeswoman for Australian Federal Police’s Crime Command.

The airline released a statement acknowledging that at least one of its employees had been arrested, and said that the company had not had any communication with the staff member or authorities. The statement, from the company’s head of PR and communications Andrea Liong, confirmed it was in contact with the Malaysian consulate in Melbourne over the matter. – READ MORE