Malindo Air cabin crew alleged to have carried $21 million worth of drugs into Australia

Malindo Air cabin crew alleged to have carried $21 million worth of drugs into Australia
By Hannah Edensor


Australian police have arrested eight people allegedly connected to a drug syndicate involving cabin crew from Malaysian airline Malindo Air.

The syndicate had allegedly been using the cabin crew to carry drugs including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine into Australia for a number of years.

The police have estimated more than $21 million worth of drugs were brought into the country.

It has been reported the crew would carry the drugs on their bodies and depart the planes in Sydney and Melbourne.

The takedown, known as ‘Operation Sunrise’, involved the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Speaking on the bust, Assistant Commissioner Walsh said: “[Operation Sunrise] is a complex, five-month operation targeting an alleged Vietnamese organised crime syndicate based in Melbourne.

“This is a significant seizure but I think reality would say that it’s not the total amount of drugs that this team have brought into this country,” she said.

“Intelligence would tell us that this crew has been operating for some years, I would say five plus … I don’t know whether or not it’s decades.”

In a statement, Malindo Air addressed the bust, stating: “Malindo Air stands ready to co-operate with all the relevant authorities be it in Australia or in Malaysia in this regard,” the airline said.

“Given all that we know to date and based on the findings of our internal investigations, we are confident that this arrest appears to be an isolated incident arising out of a crew’s misconduct.”

So far, eight arrests have been made.

On January 7, a 38-year-old woman was arrested in Tullamarine, while another six people were arrested from raids which took place the following day.

Another woman was arrested on January 14.

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