A plane passenger smuggling weapons was caught after he lit up a cigarette in the bathroom and flight attendants smelled the smoke, prosecutor says

• Flight crew smelled smoke coming from the bathroom on a flight from Turkey to Leeds, UK, in 2021.
• After landing, UK Border Force officers arrested the 51-year-old suspect and searched his bag.

A 51-year-old man smuggling weapons into the UK in 2021 was caught after lighting up a cigarette in an airplane lavatory, a prosecutor said in court last week, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

On the flight from Turkey to Leeds, England, on October 12, 2021, the flight crew smelled smoke coming from the bathroom and suspected the passenger, Arshad Khan, of smoking a cigarette. When they confronted Khan, he denied it and became "more and more aggressive," prosecutor Harry Crowson told Leeds Crown Court.

After the plane landed at Leeds Bradford Airport, UK Border Force officers arrested Khan and searched his luggage, finding brass knuckles and a stun gun that looked like it was just a lighter, the Post reported. The outlet said Khan initially told officials he had no comment and then later claimed someone had planted the weapons.

Khan, who had prior convictions, pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon and an offensive weapon. Judge Robin Mairs sentenced Khan to one month in prison but said he had already served some time and would likely be released sooner, the Post reported.

The judge told Khan in court that while he may have gone to Turkey for a vacation, his actions meant "police were called to meet you on the runway."

Khan could not immediately be reached for comment. The Leeds Bradford Airport did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

In May of this year, another passenger was also hauled off a flight in the UK after being caught smoking in the bathroom.

Flight attendants on a Ryanair flight from Spain to Manchester, England, smelled smoke coming from the toilet around 20 minutes after takeoff, a passenger told the Manchester Evening News. The passenger said the flight crew then "named and shamed" the passenger to everyone on board. Video showed police escorting the man off of the plane after it landed.