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Indonesian customs authorities have released CCTV footage showing the movements of a Malaysian pilot arrested for allegedly smuggling around 26kg of narcotics into Jakarta
The video was published on Monday, 3 August, by Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise (Bea Cukai) on Instagram.
The footage captures the moments leading up to the arrest of the 39-year-old Malaysian co-pilot, identified only by the initials MS, who authorities allege attempted to smuggle 70,114 ecstasy (MDMA) pills and around 4g of methamphetamine into Indonesia after co-piloting a Malaysian airline passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur on 28 July.
The seized drugs have an estimated street value of 60 billion rupiah (approximately RM13.5 million).
The Malaysia pilot as seen in the CCTV footage released by the Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise Office.
Image via @bcsoetta (Instagram)The video begins with the Malaysian pilot, in full uniform, collecting a large silver hard-shell suitcase from the baggage carousel while pulling a second black suitcase
He's then seen walking through the international arrivals hall before entering the dedicated fast-track lane reserved for flight crew.
Captions embedded in the footage say customs officers had already flagged the suitcase for further inspection after suspicious X-ray images and their risk profiling system raised concerns.
One caption reads: "Flight crew have a dedicated lane, but that does not mean they are exempt from Customs inspection."
The footage then shows the pilot being escorted to a customs inspection room, where officers open the silver suitcase, remove its contents, and uncover multiple brown packages concealed beneath them.
According to Indonesian Customs, the suitcase allegedly contained 70,114 MDMA pills weighing around 26kg, and roughly 4g of methamphetamine found in another bag belonging to the suspect.
The Malaysian pilot's luggage being checked by Indonesian Customs officers.
Image via @bcsoetta (Instagram)The final moments of the footage show officers displaying a small bottle allegedly containing urine
Customs authorities claim the urine was intended to manipulate the results of a drug test, suggesting the pilot may have anticipated being screened.
The suspect and all seized evidence were handed over to Bareskrim Polri, Indonesia's Criminal Investigation Agency, for further investigation.
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The footage's release comes as Malaysian authorities continue investigating how the drugs allegedly passed through security screening at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) undetected
Malaysia Border Control and Protection Agency (MCBA) director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the pilot underwent all mandatory security checks before departing for Jakarta, and that his baggage passed through KLIA's AI-assisted screening system without triggering a risk alert for secondary inspection.
He explained the system combines artificial intelligence with human assessment to assign a risk level, which determines whether officers conduct additional checks. Since the bag was not flagged as high-risk, it was cleared through routine screening under existing SOPs.
"The way the drugs were wrapped or concealed may have prevented the scanner from detecting them. That modus operandi is something we are waiting to learn through the ongoing investigation," Shuhaily said, adding that the system has successfully intercepted numerous past smuggling attempts through Malaysian airports.
MCBA director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the pilot underwent mandatory security screening before boarding his flight from KLIA to Jakarta on 28 July.
Image via Hazreen Mohamad/New Straits TimesSeparately, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) said that all checked baggage departing KLIA, including luggage belonging to airline crew, is subject to mandatory aviation security screening
The security screening is carried out by Malaysia Airports' Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel, who are trained to detect threats such as explosives and weapons.
However, MAHB noted that narcotics and other illegal-substance investigations fall under the jurisdiction of the police and Customs Department, not AVSEC.
The airport operator added that between January and July this year, its AVSEC personnel worked with police to intercept more than 30 attempts to smuggle illegal substances through KLIA, and said it will continue cooperating fully with investigators.
Meanwhile, Shuhaily later clarified that the screening system that cleared the pilot's baggage was not operated by any agency under MCBA, but was instead handled entirely by AVSEC personnel.
He confirmed that Customs officers under MCBA played no role in screening the bag before boarding.
Police, through Bukit Aman's Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID), are now investigating how the drugs evaded detection despite passing through advanced screening technology.
Shuhaily declined to speculate on whether the narcotics were placed in the luggage after screening or whether any tampering was involved, saying those questions remain under active police investigation. However, he stressed that MCBA would not protect anyone if wrongdoing by border personnel is uncovered.
