JOHANNESBURG - South African Airways has acknowledged that it is concerned that the national carrier has been penetrated by organised crime. This follows the detention of 15 SAA flight and cabin crew members at London Heathrow after 50 kilos of cannabis (dagga) and 4 kilos of cocaine was found in their baggage.

Speaking to Alec Hogg on the Moneyweb Market Update on SAFM (see transcript) SAA spokesperson Robyn Chalmers said the SAPS crime intelligence unit has been brought in "and are working very closely with them to do a proper investigation, and we'll go on for as long as it takes until we find out what happened."

According to Chalmers, the bags in which the drugs were discovered were tagged as crew bags. However, it seems that UK customs officials were unable to determine which crew members they belonged to. "I assume that there was insufficient evidence to charge them. So they have been released" she said.

Chalmers stated that the crew members are currently "on police bail, which basically means that they haven't been charged, but they will be called back to the UK, and then go back to the UK, if there is any further evidence that they need to talk about." They were due back in South Africa in the next day or two.

The South African police investigation will look into how the drugs managed to get through security at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo Airport. "There's a very strict security procedure that they undergo. How did it get through that? Those are all the questions that we are asking," she said.

The investigation will review ever single step of the procedure. "And if there are loopholes, obviously we will close them. We'll put stricter measures in place if we find that those are necessary. It's an incredible concern to us."

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