The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) has sought warrants for the arrest of two Lao men suspected of using Thais, including a flight attendant arrested recently in Australia, to smuggle heroin to third countries.
If the Criminal Court approves the warrants, Thai officials can request the arrest and extradition of the pair from Laos right away, Areepak Ngernbamroong, the ONCB deputy secretary-general, said on Thursday.
According to Ms Areepak, the Lao men aged between 40 and 50 were suspected of acquiring the drugs and ordering and paying people to smuggle them into Thailand via the Mekong River.
Thai suspects then took the smuggled narcotics to drug warehouses for packaging. The parcels were subsequently delivered to couriers, including flight attendants and frequent travellers, who would carry them to third-party countries.
A Thai Airways flight attendant identified only as Meena was arrested at Melbourne airport on June 25 with 1.8 kilogrammes of heroin neatly packaged and sewn inside the linings of two embroidered tote bags with elephant and “Thailand” patterns. She had been hired online for 3,400 baht to carry 12 tote bags of the same kind to Melbourne.
Ms Meena, 26, is in custody in Melbourne and awaiting her first court appearance on Sept 14. She could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of drug smuggling.
Ms Areepak said detectives had found that the drug cartel headed by the Lao suspects used different groups of people for different roles. The groups received orders separately and did not know one another, which helped protect the operation and frustrate authorities’ attempts to reach the masterminds.
In the Meena case, a Facebook user named “Rin Rin” had a man deliver the parcel containing the tote bags to the flight attendant, while another Facebook user called “Rose Rose” contacted Ms Meena and hired the latter to carry the tote bags to Melbourne.
The ONCB said earlier that the gang in question was linked to four cases involving heroin that was seized in Bangkok before being smuggled into Australia and Taiwan.
