The 41-year-old man and 10 friends were heading for a two-day stay on Pulau Pom-Pom in Semporna, near Tawau, and were scheduled to return to China on Jan 20.
They boarded the plane at 11am on Jan 16, and midway into the flight, the man decided to take a puff in the plane’s toilet which triggered an alarm in the cockpit.
He was detained and taken for questioning at the Tawau police headquarters the moment the plane landed at the Tawau airport, at about 1.47pm.
Tawau police chief ACP Fadil Marsus said the man was subsequently remanded for four days until Jan 20.