by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:45 PM ET, Fri March 4, 2016
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock
An Air Astana captain was fired Friday after he failed a drug test and was discovered to have a bag of marijuana on him following a flight to Kazakhstan.
According to Olzhas Auyezov of Reuters.com, the unnamed Air Astana pilot had just arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from Moscow, Russia, on an Airbus 320 when a drug-sniffing dog became suspicious of him during a routine security check at Almaty International Airport.
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When local police searched the captain, they discovered a small bag of marijuana in the pocket of his jacket. A subsequent drug test also found that he had traces of marijuana in his system as well.
Authorities at Almaty airport arrested the pilot, who reportedly admitted to smoking marijuana the night before and said he has used the controlled substance for three years.
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Air Astana says it "regularly tests its crews for alcohol and drugs using a random sampling method," and that the airline fired the captain immediately as part of the company's zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol.
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