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He landed, cleared the gate, then customs pulled him into the crew lane — the one he probably assumed was the easier one — and found 14 bags of ecstasy in his suitcase, methamphetamine in his hand luggage, and cocaine in his urine.
The plane he had just flown carried passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta.
Indonesian customs confirmed today (31 July) that the pilot, a 39-year-old Malaysian identified as Mohd Saufi Othman, was arrested the day before at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
The haul: 26kg of MDMA (widely known as ecstasy) — more than 70,000 tablets — plus 4g of methamphetamine.
He told investigators he was a courier, and that someone had promised him RM50,000 to bring the drugs in.
He also told them this was his third attempt; the first was in Malaysia, the second was in Indonesia.
Both, apparently, went fine but this one did not.
@kumparan Seorang pilot berkewarganegaraan Malaysia berinisial Mohd Saufi bin Othman ditangkap usai diduga menyelundupkan 70.114 butir narkotika seberat sekitar 25,1 kilogram serta narkotika jenis lain melalui Bandara Internasional Soekarno-Hatta, Tangerang. Penangkapan dilakukan setelah petugas Bea Cukai mencurigai koper milik pelaku saat pemeriksaan X-ray di Terminal 3 Kedatangan Internasional. Setelah koper diperiksa, petugas menemukan 14 bungkus besar dan satu paket lainnya berjsi narkotika. Berdasarkan pemeriksaan, tersangka dijanjikan upah sebesar 50.000 ringgit Malaysia untuk membawa narkotika tersebut ke Jakarta sebelum nantinya diambil seseorang di sebuah hotel. “Sampai di Jakarta tersangka Saufi nanti akan diarahkan oleh seseorang (diduga berdomisili di Malaysia) bahwa akan ada orang yang akan ngambil ke hotel (penginapan),” kata Direktur Tindak Pidana Narkoba Bareskrim Polri Brigjen Eko Hadi Santoso, Kamis (30/7). Polisi juga menduga Saufi telah tiga kali terlibat dalam penyelundupan narkotika. Hasil tes urine menunjukkan tersangka positif narkoba. Saat ini Saufi telah ditetapkan sebagai tersangka dan ditahan di Rutan Bareskrim Polri. 📸: Dok. Istimewa. Baca selengkapnya dengan klik link di bio. Cari tahu berita update lainnya dengan download aplikasi kumparan di App Store atau Google Play. 📝: newsupdate | update | news | oneliner | R158 | E203 #bicarafaktalewatberita #kumparan ♬ News / Truth Investigation / Investigation / Suspicion / Consideration(1013150) – A.TARUI
The Lane He Thought Was Safer
Customs officer Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang said the pilot likely did not expect to be checked in the crew lane.
But the monitoring we carry out is the same for everyone.
That sentence is doing a lot of work.
It means the system did not catch him.
One officer, applying the same standard to a lane that usually gets less scrutiny, did.
Indonesian police said they strongly suspected the pilot was part of an international syndicate.
Under Indonesian law, he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.
One Statement, Many Questions, One Name Spreading
Malaysia Airlines said it was taking the allegations seriously and had launched an internal review.
It would extend full cooperation to authorities.
It declined further comment.
What the statement did not address: how a pilot clears pre-flight checks while under the influence of cocaine and methamphetamine, boards a commercial aircraft, and flies it across international airspace with passengers on board.
That question is still waiting for an answer.
Meanwhile, the internet has not waited.
The pilot has since been named in media reports, but what is spreading on social media goes further — purported images of his passport, his staff identification, the seized drugs, and the bag they came in, circulating unverified across platforms since the story broke.
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