A Thai man and his Laotian wife were brought to Bangkok from Loei on Friday for questioning by narcotics investigators, who are trying to shed light on a network linked to the heroin carried by a Thai Airways International flight attendant who was arrested in Melbourne.
The couple have not been charged and are being treated only as suspects involved in the dispatching process of the heroin to the flight attendant, who has been identified only as Meena, said Areepak Ngernbamroong, spokeswoman for the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
Police and ONCB investigators questioned the couple — identified only as Arthit, 43, and Thatsaphon, 42 — in Loei on Thursday. Mr Arthit told them that he had been hired to send parcels from Laos on six occasions to Bangkok, the latest one on June 28. He also said he acted alone, and his wife denied any links to the packages and deliveries.
Authorities suspected that the couple could possibly be linked to a cell of a drug syndicate sending narcotics to clients in Thailand.
The flight attendant was arrested on June 25 at Melbourne Airport with more than one kilogramme of heroin with an estimated street price of A$500,000 (11.5 million baht).
Earlier reports said that Ms Meena had agreed on a fee of 8,800 baht with the person who had contacted her about carrying 12 elephant-print tote bags to Australia.
However, investigators on Friday said financial records showed that she received 3,400 baht — a 1,700-baht deposit and another 1,700 baht on the day of her flight.
Meanwhile, police have traced a 59-year-old driver who delivered the parcel containing the tote bags — two of which had heroin packets sewn into them — to Ms Meena’s condominium building in Bang Na on June 22.
The driver, from Ayutthaya, told police he was hired by a foreign-looking man who accompanied him during the delivery, according to local media reports.
Police have seized the driver’s car for forensic examination.
