4 flight attendants forced to fire for carrying more than 11 kg of drugs

Ketamine and cocaine (white crystals) were taken from toothpaste tubes. Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Customs

At the same time, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has directed airlines to urgently review measures to prevent smuggling and trade fraud to detect violations and strictly handle them.

Regarding the case of 4 Vietnam Airlines flight attendants carrying more than 11 kg of drugs and ecstasy back to Vietnam, who were just released without sufficient grounds for criminal prosecution, the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that according to Circular 46/2013 of the Ministry of Transport on special labor discipline for aviation staff, these flight attendants will not be allowed to work in the aviation industry.

Specifically, Circular 46 clearly stipulates that "no one is allowed to work as an aviation employee in any enterprise operating in the field of civil aviation for the act of taking advantage of the working position to smuggle or illegally transport people, property, or goods".

"The guiding viewpoint of the Civil Aviation Authority in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods via air is to be resolute, persistent, regular, and have no forbidden areas," the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority affirmed.

Regarding the recent case of four flight attendants carrying drugs, the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam admitted that there are still loopholes in the work of preventing and combating smuggling via air routes, in this case in the implementation stage of the business.

Immediately after the incident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam directed airlines to urgently review specific measures to prevent smuggling and commercial fraud of airlines, especially the training of corporate culture/professional ethics and control of flight crews to promptly detect loopholes and correct them as soon as possible, minimizing violations.

In the immediate future, airlines need to strengthen internal inspections, conduct periodic inspections and surprise inspections of flight crew luggage before and after flights. If violations are detected, they will be strictly handled according to regulations.

When an incident occurs, the airline must proactively comment on the incident, evaluate, draw lessons and widely disseminate the lesson to all officers and employees in the entire system to raise awareness of compliance with regulations on anti-smuggling and trade fraud, and at the same time review and supplement regulations and plans to plug loopholes if any.

Previously, at 8:45 a.m. on March 16, through routine cargo screening, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch discovered a shipment of about 60 kg of goods, including 4 suitcases of flight attendants Tran Thi Thu Ngan, Vo Tu Quynh, Nguyen Thanh Thuy and Dang Phuong Van, which was suspicious and should still be inspected.

Afterwards, the Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch coordinated with the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department - Ministry of Public Security and the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department - Ho Chi Minh City Police to conduct an inspection and discovered in 4 suitcases, in addition to personal items, a total of 327 tubes of toothpaste (unopened, many different brands, each tube contained in a separate paper box) and 17 bottles of mouthwash.

Upon inspection of the toothpaste tubes, the authorities discovered 157 tubes containing a total of 11,284.57 grams of drugs including Ketamine and MDMA.

On March 17, Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs Branch transferred the case file and evidence to the Investigation Police Agency - Ho Chi Minh City Police to continue investigating according to their authority.

On March 22, information from the Ministry of Public Security said that the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency has decided to release four flight attendants in the case of four suitcases containing toothpaste tubes containing drugs inside.

Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency has initiated a case of "illegal drug transportation" to investigate and clarify the nature of the incident and strictly handle related subjects according to regulations.

According to VOV