Thai woman held at Fukuoka over crystal meth hidden in coffee sachets

A 28-year-old Thai woman remains in custody in Japan after crystal methamphetamine was allegedly found inside coffee sachets in a parcel she had been paid to carry to Fukuoka, according to her family.

The woman, identified only as Juthathip, was detained at Fukuoka Airport on July 12 after arriving from Thailand with her boyfriend and another friend. The two companions were questioned for about 11 hours before being released, while Juthathip remained in custody.

Her family said the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Fukuoka informed them on July 22 that she had been arrested on suspicion of importing crystal methamphetamine. They said they had since been unable to contact her directly.

Customer disappeared after paying 3,600-baht fee

Juthathip’s boyfriend, Sarawut, said she established a LINE group called THIENTHIEN SHOP last year, offering to carry goods between Thailand and Thai residents in Japan for a fee.

A LINE user named “ing ing” contacted the group on July 10 and asked them to transport a tightly sealed brown box weighing about 12 kilogrammes. Sarawut said he did not know whether Juthathip had opened the parcel to inspect its contents.

The customer had used the service once before, in May, so the group did not consider the request unusual, he said.

Sarawut said the group carried nine boxes on the journey. The recipients of the other parcels contacted them to collect their goods, but the “ing ing” account did not make contact and later blocked further communication.

The customer paid a courier fee of 3,600 baht through a bank account bearing the name “HO THI MAI”, according to Sarawut.

Family hands CCTV evidence to Thai police

Juthathip’s mother, Kanyawee, said the family filed a report at Bang Bua Thong Police Station after learning of the arrest.

They sought CCTV footage from the housing estate where Juthathip lived to identify the person who had delivered the parcel. The family had obtained information about the delivery and handed the evidence to investigators, she said.

Kanyawee asked Thai agencies to follow the Japanese investigation and examine the people behind the delivery, including whether the case might be related to earlier incidents involving travellers hired to carry parcels overseas.

No official connection to another case has been established.

“The family has to accept that she was not careful and did not properly inspect the contents of the box,” Kanyawee said.

She insisted that her daughter had never previously been involved with illegal drugs and appealed to the authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the parcel.

Case follows Thai flight attendant’s arrest in Australia

The Fukuoka case follows the arrest of a 26-year-old Thai Airways flight attendant at Melbourne Airport on June 25.

Australian authorities charged the employee with importing and possessing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug after more than one kilogramme of suspected heroin was allegedly found concealed in 12 tote bags in her luggage. Police estimated its street value at about A$500,000.

Thai authorities later said the flight attendant had arranged through social media to carry the bags for a fee of 8,800 baht. The arrest prompted warnings that trafficking networks were using fake online accounts to recruit airline staff and other international travellers for paid parcel-carrying jobs.

The flight attendant was remanded in custody and is due to appear again before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in September. No authority has publicly linked her case to Juthathip’s detention in Japan.