More arrests expected in PIA air hostess case

LONDON: The UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials have extended their inquiries to ascertain whether the discovery of heroin from a Pakistan International Airline (PIA) air hostess was an isolated incident or part of wider drugs smuggling net.
An official told The News that the PIA air hostess—who has been named as Toheed Alam or Toheed Noorani—remained in detention of the UKBA at a location in Greater Manchester where officials from the UKBA and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) grilled the PIA employee.
It is hoped that she will soon presented before the magistrate where charges will be levelled against her or she will be released, depending on the outcome of the initial investigation. The evidence of heroin found in her laptop means there is a high chance that not only she will be charged but more people could be arrested in Britain and Pakistan if it’s established that other people in Pakistan, PIA and from Britain have been involved in the smuggling of illegal substance through the airliner’s crew members and through other means.
Travelling from Lahore to Manchester on PK 709, she was arrested when Greater Manchester police and UK Border Agency stopped the crew for routine search on Friday afternoon. She could have simply succeeded to smuggle the heroin were it not for the sniffer dogs who alerted the police to her shoulder bag in which she carried the laptop containing nearly half a kilogram of heroin.
Sources have told The News that the air hostess refused to initially present her laptop for inspection stating that it belonged to her son. “She told the officials that the laptop was a crew member’s property and then changed her version and said that it belonged to her son.”
The News has learnt that the air hostess, born in 1954, was due for retirement next year. it can also be confirmed that her son is in the UK and has visa for a year.In April 2013 at the same airport, immigration officials had arrested another flight attendant carrying several mobile phones in her hand bag on flight PK-170 from Manchester to Lahore.