Australia’s 7 News news agency reported that nine Vietnamese flight attendants had been arrested in Australia for smuggling $60,000 in suspected drug money.
Photographic information believed to be evidence of the case shows passports with the Vietnamese national emblem and bundles of Australian dollars.
These flight attendants are accused of money laundering and are suspected of transporting illegal drug money to overseas drug trafficking organizations.
These flight attendants belong to two Vietnamese airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways, serving on direct flights to Australia.
According to information in the Australian press, the two recent flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne, Australia, were VN780 of Vietnam Airlines on June 13 and flight QH89 of Bamboo Airways on June 12.
Dan Tri newspaper on June 17 quoted Mr. Dang Anh Tuan, Head of Communication Department of Vietnam Airlines, as saying “Up to now, the flight crews and flight attendants of Vietnam Airlines still fly out and back normally.”
Mr. Tuan said that Vietnam Airlines was aware of the arrest and is asking Australian authorities to provide more information.
Bamboo Airways denied that its flight attendants laundered money. The representative of this company was quoted by Dan Tri as saying:
“Bamboo Airways affirms that the airline and its staff in general, and its crew members, in particular, are completely unrelated to the above incident. All activities of Bamboo Airways and its staffs comply with the regulations of the authorities in Vietnam as well as the countries/international territories where the airline operates.”
Thoibao.de (Translated)
