ONCB probe finds foreign ringleaders behind Australia-Taiwan drug route
Thai authorities have arrested the delivery rider who allegedly handed narcotics to a flight attendant, as the ONCB expands its probe into a network using Thailand as a transit route to Australia and Taiwan.
Police have arrested the actual delivery rider accused of handing narcotics to a flight attendant, while the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) has expanded the investigation and uncovered two major ringleaders from a neighbouring country who allegedly used Thailand as a transit route to Australia and Taiwan.
Police Major Suriya Singhakamol, secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, said on Friday that Metropolitan Police investigators had tracked down and questioned the delivery rider who allegedly delivered narcotics to Ms Meena, a flight attendant with a well-known airline.
He said the questioning was aimed at verifying the facts and tracing the smuggling route in detail.
“In addition, officers are tracking another suspect who remains at large. This person is believed to have carried a parcel box down from a car. The driver of that vehicle, who was earlier detained, is still being questioned by Metropolitan Police, as are the Lao couple currently in custody. Investigators are questioning them intensively to confirm information and evidence about the origin of the drug-import network through Thailand,” the ONCB secretary-general said.
Suriya said the investigation had found that the network was controlled by two major foreign ringleaders from a neighbouring country. They were allegedly responsible for managing and sending narcotics to destinations in Australia and Taiwan, using Thailand only as a transit point for concealment and transport.
As for whether any Thai nationals at ringleader level were involved, Suriya said the issue remained under continuous investigation. He explained that the network appeared to operate through direct contact between sellers and foreign recipients waiting for the narcotics at the destination.
Asked about the Lao couple’s testimony that the final shipment had been sent on June 28, after the case involving the alleged delivery to Ms Meena, and whether the ONCB had traced it, Suriya said officers had now tracked all leads.
“Officers have traced all of them. Teams were deployed to make arrests simultaneously at three locations on June 30 and July 1. Some arrests had already been made earlier, and officers are continuing to expand the investigation,” he said.
Asked how many people had so far been linked to the case since the operation began, the ONCB secretary-general said the public and media should wait for an official statement, as many people were involved in the case.
He also asked the public to wait for clear directions from the Prime Minister, who was expected to issue concrete instructions later in the day.
Police also revealed that the arrested driver is a 59-year-old man from Ayutthaya province. He had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment and served 20 years in prison after being arrested in 1997 while smuggling 10,000 methamphetamine pills from Chiang Rai to Bangkok.
