ISLAMABAD: Officials from Pakistan Customs, after initial investigation, have said that the heroin found on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight in London was loaded onto the plane on May 8 while it was parked in Karachi.
According to the official sources, the plane was with PIA’s maintenance department in Karachi for around 20 hours on May 8, following which it travelled to Lahore, Islamabad and then London on May 16.
Customs investigators have discovered that the narcotics were also hidden in compartments in the plane’s roof – a time-consuming process which could only have been performed when the plane was stationary for a long time.
Talking to media in Islamabad, Prime Minister’s Aviation Adviser Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said there has yet been no official word from the UK authorities on the issue. “This is not an issue of PIA but of Pakistan’s international image, which has been tarnished due to this incident,” he stated.
He said in his statement that they will not conceal any facts, adding that, “We will get to the bottom of the issue and use it to further clean our house”.