Police uncover Ayutthaya hideout in flight attendant heroin case

Police searched an apartment in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district during an afternoon operation on Saturday (July 4, 2026), saying the room had been used as a hideout and packing site for cloth bags allegedly concealing heroin linked to flight attendant Mina.

Pol Gen Samran Nuanma, deputy national police chief, led the operation with Pol Lt Gen Nopasil Poolsawat, commissioner attached to the Office of the Commissioner-General, Pol Lt Gen Siam Boonsom, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, and Pol Maj Gen Theeradet Thumsuthee, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

Investigators from the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau and the Office of Police Forensic Science joined the search.

Officers identified the room as being linked to Uthai Khanaphiwat, 57, a Hmong man whom police described as the blue-hooded suspect seen carrying a parcel to Mina at a condominium in Bang Na, Bangkok, on Monday (June 22).

Inside the room, police found eight separated pieces of elephant-pattern cloth, many strips of similar cloth and white powder attached to the scraps.

Forensic officers collected powder from the cloth and tested it with FTIR, or Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, an infrared-based chemical analysis tool.

Police said the test confirmed the powder was heroin.

Police also found a large amount of cash in THB1,000 banknotes, mobile phones, a wallet, shorts, a blue short-sleeved shirt and a backpack.

Investigators believe some items may have been used by Uthai on the day the heroin parcel was delivered to Mina.

The seized evidence was gathered for detailed forensic examination.

Uthai was brought down from a vehicle at 4.16pm to confirm the seized items and lead officers through the room.

During that process, he told reporters: “I was hired by someone else.”

Samran asked Uthai whether the pile of elephant-pattern cloth had been used to contain drugs.

Police said Uthai nodded and confirmed that drugs had been packed inside.

Forensic officers later explained that the white powder collected from the cloth scraps had tested positive for heroin.

The sample will be sent to a laboratory for further examination, while police said the quantity of heroin found could not yet be confirmed.

Police then escorted Uthai back to the room for another search and site inspection, which took less than 30 minutes, before taking him to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.

As he was taken back to the vehicle, Uthai repeatedly said: “I apologise to the flight attendant. I am sorry for what I did. I am truly sorry.”

Samran later said Uthai confessed during questioning and claimed that on Saturday (June 20), he travelled to Chiang Kham district in Phayao to collect six two-elephant-pattern bags and 12 four-elephant-pattern bags.

The bags had already been sewn and allegedly contained heroin inside.

After Mina’s arrest in Australia, Uthai allegedly discarded the remaining drugs and dumped the remaining two-elephant and four-elephant bags at various locations while fleeing.

Police said they had taken him to recover some discarded items, while some material had been flushed down a toilet.

Forensic checks found clear heroin residue inside destroyed bags, Samran said.

Samran said Uthai told police he already knew heroin was hidden inside the bags when he collected them.

Uthai allegedly said the bags were handed over in Chiang Kham by one masked man before he travelled by bus, stored the items at the Ayutthaya apartment and later delivered them to the Bang Na condominium.

He said he was paid THB60,000 and had carried out the work three times, with the delivery to Mina being the third.

Police said Uthai claimed all three jobs were arranged through a Line contact named “Rinrin”, whom he described as Thai.

Investigators have been assigned to expand the inquiry from that lead.

Uthai also allegedly said he used the same 59-year-old Grab driver, nicknamed Pae, for all three deliveries.

He claimed he contacted Pae by telephone rather than through the app and did not know him personally.

The first delivery was to Samut Prakan; he could not remember the second location, and the third was to Mina’s condominium in Bang Na.

Police said all three deliveries involved leaving parcels without meeting the recipients.

The exact amount of drugs in the latest batch has not yet been confirmed.

Police had summoned Pae for questioning on Friday (July 3) and later released him while evidence was still being gathered.

Samran said police would seek an additional arrest warrant if evidence showed Pae was involved.

Samran also confirmed that the blue-hooded man seen in CCTV footage was the same person as the suspect, citing Uthai’s own confession.

Uthai told police the clothes worn on the day of the delivery had been thrown away.

Samran said that although the colour differed from the shirt Uthai wore when arrested, it was the same brand he often wore and liked.

Searches at two locations found further forensic evidence, including clothing similar to that seen in CCTV footage and some bags used to contain drugs.

Police are still looking for clothing allegedly discarded along Uthai’s escape route.

Samran said Mina’s status after her arrest in Australia was a matter for Australian police, and Thai authorities could not interfere.

He said Thai police were ready to coordinate and hand over all evidence if Australian authorities requested more information.

Police are still considering the charges against Uthai.

Samran said several charges were expected because the case involved alleged possession and transport of drugs, as well as other offences indicated by evidence.

Investigators are continuing to expand the case to alleged accomplices at both the source and destination.