Eight people, including two Malindo Air staff, were arrested in the past fortnight after police seized luxury cars, A$100,000 (US$72,000) in cash and drugs during raids in Melbourne.
Police in Australia believe they have cracked an international drug syndicate that relied on airline cabin crew to smuggle drugs into Melbourne and Sydney.
Investigators allege the drugs were carried on the bodies of Malindo Air cabin crew flying from Malaysia.
The ABC reports that one of those alleged to have been involved in the Melbourne-based Vietnamese crime syndicate told police he had previously made the trip to Australia 19 times.
Eight people, including one Malindo Air flight attendant, were arrested in the past fortnight after police seized luxury cars, A$100,000 (US$72,000) in cash and drugs during raids in Melbourne.
It’s alleged that cabin crew brought heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine worth A$21 million (US$15.1m) into Australia.
Victoria police assistant commissioner Tess Walsh said the method used to smuggle the drugs into the community "is of significant concern" to law enforcement authorities.
She said the syndicate had been operating for at least five years and the complex investigation was ongoing because the drugs seized so far were clearly "not the total amount of drugs" alleged to have been imported.
Malindo Air flies to Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane in Australia.
Last June, a flight attendant from Malaysian Airlines was arrested at Melbourne airport allegedly trying to smuggle 3.5kg of heroin in his luggage. The 33-year-old Malaysian man faces drug smuggling charges.