Lahore: The cabin crew of a Pakistan International Airlines flight was detained for several hours
at John F Kennedy Airport in New York for allegedly smuggling
hundreds of cartons of cigarettes and dozens of mobile phone
sets, officials said on Thursday.
Authorities at the US airport held eight members of the
crew of PIA flight PK-721 yesterday after over 500 cigarette
cartons and a large number of mobile sets, mostly BlackBerrys
and iPhones, were found in their baggage.
The items were in excess of the permissible limits,
officials said.
The authorities interrogated the crew members for five
hours and released them after imposing a heavy fine on PIA,
officials said.
PIA spokesman Sultan Hasan described the incident as
unfortunate and said an inquiry had been initiated against the
crew members.
"Strict action will be taken against them if the charges
against them are proved," he said.
Incidentally, earlier this week, another PIA crew
member had been jailed for 32 months for trying to smuggle
dozens of counterfeit passports and fake passport materials
into the UK.
PTI
