Malaysian police granted access to question pilot detained in Jakarta over drug case, says home minister

Jakarta authorities have authorized Malaysian police to interrogate a Malaysian pilot suspected of drug smuggling after he allegedly transported narcotics from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Jakarta, according to the New Straits Times. Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that a Narcotics Crime Investigation Department team granted access to interview the suspect, stating that their investigators had been allowed to speak with the subject since the outset.

Saifuddin expressed the importance of granting the team sufficient time to complete their investigation and suggested that proposals for enhancing airport security, currently being reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee, could potentially be discussed with the transport minister during the upcoming Cabinet meeting.

The 39-year-old pilot was apprehended at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on July 28 when Indonesian authorities discovered 70,114 ecstasy pills and four grammes of methamphetamine in his luggage.