Viral Video: A hostess of Pakistan International Airlines has again landed in controversy, this time for smuggling foreign currency. On Saturday, at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, customs officials, in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency and the immigration authorities, apprehended the air hostess after discovering a substantial amount of foreign currency hidden in her socks.
PIA Air Hostess Arrested for Currency Smuggling
According to the Express Tribune, customs officials recovered $37,318, about 3,124,356 Indian Rupees, and 40,000 Saudi Riyals, which is approximately 892,653 Indian Rupees. She was due to board a PIA flight to Jeddah when the officials turned suspicious and started searching her. The hidden currency, amounting to several lakhs in Pakistani Rupees, was later recovered.
Deputy Collector Customs Raja Bilal confirmed the arrest and said the government was serious about checking currency smuggling. A case has been registered against the air hostess and she has been handed over to investigation team for further action.
Previous Incident Highlights
This is another incident of a series of scandals involving PIA staff. Back in March, a PIA air hostess named Hina Sani was detained at Toronto’s airport for carrying multiple passports—a serious international offense. As such, this case has brought out a troubling trend within Pakistan’s state-run airline, which has been battling issues pertaining to employee misconduct and disappearances.
The latest arrest has underlined security and integrity concerns within PIA, whose airline continues to face internal challenges and the wider problem of smuggling and other crimes its staff is engaging in.