KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has confirmed the arrest of a 49-year-old Malaysian pilot whose company owns the private jet implicated in a half-tonne crystal methamphetamine trafficking bust from Laos to the Philippines.

The arrest brings the total number of Malaysian pilots detained in connection with drug trafficking cases to four.

Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan confirmed the man’s arrest in a brief response to the New Straits Times today.

He said the department was preparing an official statement on the matter, which would be released soon.

The arrest follows a raid at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang yesterday, during which four people were detained shortly before their aircraft was scheduled to depart for Manila.

The four comprised a pilot, co-pilot and two female crew members.

The operation involved the NCID, Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (MCBA), Petaling Jaya police, aviation security personnel (AVSEC) and Special Branch Travel Control Officers (TCO).

The arrests came amid investigations into the seizure of 521kg of crystal methamphetamine from a private jet at Luang Prabang International Airport in Laos on Oct 1.

Laotian authorities detained 13 people in connection with the case, including a Malaysian second officer.

The aircraft involved had earlier departed from Subang Airport for Laos without any cargo before the drugs were discovered at Luang Prabang.

Investigations are ongoing to establish the full extent of the Malaysian connections to the international drug trafficking syndicate.

On Oct 1, a Malaysian second officer was among 13 people arrested by Lao authorities after they foiled an attempt to smuggle 521kg of crystal methamphetamine using a private jet at Luang Prabang International Airport.

The arrest comes just over two months after a 39-year-old Malaysia Airlines pilot was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in July.

Indonesian authorities had found about 25kg of drugs in his luggage.

The haul comprised 70,114 capsules contained in 15 packets and was estimated to be worth about RM45 million.

Investigations later found that the drugs were believed to have been obtained in Ampang before being transported through a Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu-Kuala Lumpur route and onwards to Jakarta.

A second Malaysian pilot, in his 30s, was arrested in the Klang Valley on Sept 7 as part of Malaysian police investigations into the trafficking network linked to the Jakarta case.

The pilot was believed to have financial links to the syndicate.

His arrest was part of a series of follow-up operations carried out after the July 31 seizure.