Police have arrested a Nigerian man and two Thai women with 65.5 kilogrammes of heroin, saying they were linked to a Nigerian romance scam network that lured Thai women to distribute drugs in Thailand.
The Nigerian suspect, identified only as Obi, was arrested on Monday at a hotel on Phatthanakan Road in Suan Luang district of Bangkok, Pol Col Jetnipat Siriwat, a superintendent with the Crime Suppression Division, said on Wednesday.
Officers also arrested a woman identified as Kanyarat at an apartment on Navamin Soi 42 in Bung Kum district, and Somporn at the southern bus terminal in Bangkok on Monday.
According to Pol Col Jetnipat, the 65.5kg of heroin worth about 200 million baht was smuggled from Laos into Nong Khai province in northeastern Thailand. Mr Obi reportedly stored the heroin at the hotel before packaging it for distribution to dealers who would sell it at tourist destinations in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.
Ms Somporn said she was just about to board a bus to Phuket to deliver the heroin to dealers in the southern province when police found her.
Both Mr Obi and Ms Somporn said they received the heroin from Ms Kanyarat. The drugs were packed in snack and pet feed packages. Police found 49.5kg of heroin with Mr Obi and 16kg with Ms Somporn.
Pol Col Jetnipat said a Nigerian gang lured Thai women through romance scams and later hired the women to distribute drugs for 30,000 baht per delivery.
The Nigerian scammers were not in Thailand and the three arrested suspects did not know one another, he said.
