Smuggling attempts spike at Jacksons Airport

Aviation Security at Port Moresby's Jackson's Airport remains on high alert following three separate smuggling attempts intercepted this month.

The National Airports Corporation confirmed the latest incident occurred on Thursday, April 9th when Air Niugini ground handlers noticed two unusual packages arriving on flight PX 189 from Mt Hagen.

AVSEC officers monitored the arrival hall and identified a passenger travelling under a false identity who collected the packages.

The man was escorted for security re-screening, where 16 kilograms of marijuana, wrapped in two 8kg packages, was confirmed.

The suspect was detained and handed to Airport Police.

NAC says the incident follows two earlier security detections on Sunday, April 5th. On that day, AVSEC, working with Air Niugini security and police, confiscated 20.2 kilograms of marijuana from a passenger arriving from Tari Airport.

Also on Sunday, an AVSEC officer intercepted undeclared 12 live 9mm rounds of ammunition from another passenger travelling to Goroka from Port Moresby.

That passenger was referred to the police for investigation.

Acting Managing Director and CEO of NAC, Dominic Kaumu, says the consecutive detections highlight a disturbing frequency of large quantities of drugs being smuggled through domestic airports.

“Our teams together with other airport stakeholders have acted with vigilance and professionalism in stopping recent threats, but the growing number of incidents is deeply concerning,” Mr Kaumu said.

NAC says it is tightening screening, strengthening access controls, and improving intelligence sharing across all airports, particularly at outer airports which have emerged as high-risk gateways.

The corporation commended Air Niugini’s ground handling staff for noticing and reporting the suspicious cargo, and appealed to the public for cooperation in reporting suspicious activities at airports.