Thai flight attendant heroin case linked to Laos-based network: ONCB

Police at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau were preparing on Monday morning (July 6, 2026) to take Uthai, the hooded man who carried a parcel box in which heroin was hidden in a cloth bag for delivery to flight attendant Mina, and Nantawat, Uthai’s friend who was said to have destroyed evidence, to the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road at 11am to seek their remand in custody.

The two are suspects in a case involving the trafficking of heroin and the alleged hiring of a young flight attendant before her arrest in Australia.

Investigators opposed bail in the petition.

As for progress in the case, Pol Maj Gen Sombun Thiankhao, deputy commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB), said the two suspects had provided information useful to the case.

The NSB is now expanding the investigation further.

Regarding the source of the heroin, the suspects said they had received it from Chiang Kham district in Phayao province, but officers were not yet convinced, as suspects can say anything.

Their statements, therefore, have to be checked against the evidence held by the police.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Uthai and Nantawat had so far found links only within the scope of this case and had not found links to any other case.

Uthai claimed he had done this three times before, but officers were not yet convinced.

Investigators believe a room rented by Uthai in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province was likely used as a place to pack and distribute drugs.

Officers are now checking where the drugs were sent, while details of the room rental remain part of the investigation file and cannot yet be disclosed.

During the morning, the lawyer for the two suspects visited Uthai and Nantawat.

The lawyer said he had been contacted by the suspects’ relatives to act on their behalf and had brought food and drinks for the two suspects.

Regarding the legal case, the lawyer currently had no additional information because he had only been contacted by relatives on Sunday (July 5, 2026).

Later in the day, he was to ask for details of the results of the two suspects’ questioning.

As for submitting surety to seek bail, there had not yet been any discussion with the suspects’ relatives.

In developments on the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) side, Areepak Ngernbumrung, deputy secretary-general of the ONCB and ONCB spokesperson, said that in the Mina case, investigative and intelligence-gathering mechanisms in Thailand had made substantial progress.

She confirmed that all agencies were urgently gathering evidence in a coordinated manner to prepare a major case file for submission to prosecutors.

Intelligence clearly indicated groups of people whose actions were linked to the operation, with roles divided systematically, such as Uthai’s group.

For the NSB, officers had expanded the case and arrested Uthai, the hooded man seen in CCTV footage while delivering the parcel, along with other people involved.

As for the group of Arthit, a Thai man, and Thatsaphon, his Lao wife, the couple are suspects and key figures in the transnational drug-smuggling network involving heroin, sending items from the Loei province side.

Officers were able to arrest them and question them further to link additional evidence.

Regarding the status of “Mina” in Australia, Areepak said the legal status of “Mina”, who is being detained in Australia, had been the subject of reports that Australian authorities had not yet formally designated her as a suspect because the case had not yet reached the Australian court.

Legally, major additional charges may not yet have been brought, but in practice, the term suspect could already be used for the offence of importing prohibited goods or drugs into the country.

The work of Australian authorities and the Thai side is being carried out in parallel.

Mina, the flight attendant, has given useful information to Australian officers, who will use it to expand the investigation and dismantle the destination network they are also monitoring.

The ONCB and Thai agencies will be responsible for investigating and expanding the source-side case.

At present, both Australia and Thailand are working fully in their areas of responsibility.

“I can confirm that, on the Thai side, the case has made considerable progress. It is nearly complete, because we now know the network and the major figure behind it are in Laos, but we cannot name them yet. All I can say is that this network prepared everything as a complete operation, with items packaged into parcels from Laos before being sent across into Thailand to find people to pass them on. Officers are speeding up the investigation to gather all the evidence needed to seek arrest warrants, because this is considered a transnational criminal organisation and needs to be handled by the DSI.”

As for the destination in Australia, Areepak said there was also positive news because officers already knew where, and to whom, the drugs sent through Mina were destined.

Areepak also said that, in practical terms, the ONCB acts as the “coordinating unit” in this case, gathering all information and intelligence that had been tracked and accumulated over the past two years.

The case has been designated a “special case” because it involves a large and complex criminal operation, bringing in several law enforcement agencies under the overall supervision of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).

These include the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB), which is responsible for information and for following up on key figures in the network; the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), which helps manage the Bangkok area, including investigations tracing vehicles and cars used in the offences until all those involved could be arrested; and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), which takes responsibility at the final stage as a special case to oversee the overall picture and prepare the case file.

All information and facts obtained by each agency will be fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw, so that the picture of this large drug-trafficking criminal organisation can be seen clearly before being compiled into a single case file for prosecutors to proceed.