A holiday in Pakistan for a 24-year-old man from Ipoh has turned into a nightmare! Who would have known a holiday could end up with a rocky road home?

Raymond Francis went to Pakistan on a holiday in Nov 2006 and was detained by Afghan authorities a week later.

The building technician who was working in Singapore before he left on the holiday has spent the past eight months in the Policharki Prison in Kabul.

On his way back from Pakistan, he had to detour because he could not get a direct flight back from Islamabad to Kuala Lumpur. So he decided to fly back to Kuala Lumpur via Kabul and New Delhi.

However, in Kabul, he was detained for drug and weapon smuggling allegations.

After his plight was reported by The Malay Mail, Wisma Putra instructed the Malaysian Embassy in Iran to get in touch with the Afghan authorities to understand Raymond's case.

Conned by an Afghan

"The process may take some time as we don't have physical presence in Kabul," a spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry's External Division told the paper. He said the ministry's consular division will also meet officials from the Afghanistan Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to seek their assistance.

Previously, Raymond's family had sought the ministry's assistance after they first learnt of Raymond's detention but they later told the ministry they did not need any more help as Raymond's elder brother, Edwin, was going to Kabul to resolve the issue.

On Jan 12, Edwin went to Kabul with US$15,000 (RM57,000), the amount demanded by the anonymous caller who called the family on Nov 13, saying he could help in the release of Raymond if they paid him. However, he was later conned by an Afghan named Khalid. He spent three months in Kabul and saw his brother five times there.

The family insisted on Raymond's innocence. Raymond had claimed that he was incriminated by two men who took him to Kabul.

"He is a good man and he is innocent. He was accused because he is a foreigner. The police also claimed they found drugs in his bag," Edwin said.