Johannesburg - In the second case of alleged smuggling by South Africa Airways (SAA) staff in under a month, 15 crew members were arrested in London's Heathrow airport Monday for possession of contraband goods, reports said in South Africa.

A spokeswoman for SAA told the South African Press Association (SAPA) that the 15 detainees - 12 cabin crew and three cockpit crew - were arrested off flight SA234 from Johannesburg after the illegal goods were found in the crew bus. The report did not specify the nature of the goods.

South Africa's airport security was first thrown into the spotlight last month when officials at Heathrow discovered 50 kilogrammes of marijuana and 4 kilogrammes of cocaine in three bags allegedly belonging to SAA crew.

SAA said it had tightened security measures after the first incident, in which 15 crew members were also arrested by British authorities, but later released on bail pending further investigations.

A flight attendant was arrested on her return home and charged, along with an airport security official, of drug smuggling. The two have since been released on bail.

In that incident, the drugs were found onboard the aircraft.

"SAA remains committed to a zero-tolerance approach towards the use of the airline's services for any criminal activity and will continue to closely monitor the situation going forward," SAA spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers said. (dpa)