BANGKOK – Police at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport have arrested a 71-year-old Latvian man after discovering three kilos of heroin hidden in his luggage while he was waiting to catch a flight to Malaysia.
Pol Maj Gen Cherngron Rimphadee from Immigration Police told a press briefing that officers from the airport’s Narcotics Suppression Unit and the Customs Department had received tips about a foreign traveller using Thailand to move drugs.
The suspect, identified as Mr Guntars Lukstins, a Latvian national, flew into Bangkok from Laos on a Thai Airways flight on Sunday. He was due to fly on to Malaysia the next day.
During a search of his red canvas bag, which contained a folded camp bed, officials found 47 brown plastic-wrapped tubes tucked inside the bed’s steel frame. Tests confirmed the packages contained heroin, weighing about three kilos in total.
Mr Lukstins did not respond to questions and couldn’t speak English. Investigators suspect he picked up the drugs in Laos, as he brought no checked bag on his outbound trip but returned with a nine-kilo bag.
He has now been handed over to the Customs Department’s Investigation and Suppression Division for further action.
In Thailand, penalties for heroin possession are governed by the Narcotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979) and its amendments, with heroin classified as a Category I narcotic due to its high potential for abuse.
For larger quantities (e.g., over 100 grams), penalties escalate, with up to 15 years imprisonment and fines up to 1.5 million THB ($41,000) for serious drug offences like trafficking or distribution.
Foreigners face the same penalties as Thai citizens, with no leniency based on nationality. Convicted individuals may face deportation after serving their sentence and potential blacklisting from re-entering Thailand.
