Thailand’s Narcotics suppression police discovered 40 bars of raw heroin totaling 14.8 kilos stashed in two slushy machines transported to Taiwan, Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lukboon, secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board said.
Pol Lt Gen Phanurat told a press briefing that on Wednesday that the two slushy machines were packaged for air delivery to Taiwan. Each machine contained 20 bars of unprocessed heroin. The market price of raw heroin in Taiwan would be around 100 million baht.
According to Police Lt Gen Phanurat a case was being prepared to seek for a warrant to arrest a suspect in the case. They were also identifying the location where the slushy machines had been changed to conceal the heroin, which required specialized instruments.
“They neatly replaced the compressors with the drugs, in a way that the slushy machines’ normal weight remained unchanged,” he stated.
Police detain foreigners for drug dealing
Meanwhile, one Russian and three Nigerian men were arrested in Phuket for reportedly trafficking illegal substances including as cocaine, ecstasy, and crystal meth.
Pol Maj Gen Phanthana Nutchanart, the Immigration Bureau’s deputy chief, provided details to media on Wednesday. He claimed that three of the accused collaborated to provide cocaine to consumers last weekend.
The 38-year-old Russian male, Denis, and two Nigerians, Ogadinma, 41, and Harison, 40, were apprehended and transferred to Phuket’s Karon police station for legal processing.
Another Nigerian, Solomon, 53, was arrested separately for reportedly supplying crystal meth, ecstasy pills, and cocaine while in possession of ketamine. He was escorted to the Chalong police station, where he will face an official inquiry.
In April, immigration officers in Phuket received evidence indicating that Mr Denis was illegally conducting car rental and bitcoin trading operations, prompting the inquiry. Police acted as consumers and discovered that he supplied cocaine for 4,000 baht per gram to customers.
He was eventually apprehended in a sting operation at a petrol station in Tambon Wichit. Police confiscated 0.99 grams of cocaine from him.
Police Find Cocaine
Mr Denis allegedly stated that he acquired the cocaine from Mr Harison and Mr Ogadinma for 3,000 baht per gram. The police investigation was widened, resulting in the arrest of the two outside a hotel parking lot in Tambon Karon. Police recovered 1.4 grams of cocaine beneath the driver’s seat of their vehicle.
Mr Harison and Mr Ogadinma allegedly obtained the drugs at a home in Tambon Chalong where Mr Solomon, a big drug dealer, was staying.
Mr Denis led officers to the bungalow, where a search turned up 855 ecstasy pills, 470 tiny cocaine sachets, 127.8 grams of crystal meth, and two bank passes.
Police also reported that drug-related assets seized from foreign criminals in Phuket this year included cars and almost 900,000 baht in cash.
Pol Maj Gen Phanthana also stated that Phuket immigration police collaborated with Chalong police to apprehend a male suspect, only named as Oleksandr, 25, who possesses dual Swedish and Russian nationalities, for alleged robbery.
A Russian woman, Diera, 23, made a complaint with police that she had been misled via a Telegram app into taking 25,000 baht in cash to a residence in tambon Chalong, where she was supposed to swap it for bitcoin.
When Ms Diera arrived at the villa, Mr Oleksandr allegedly placed a plastic bag over her head, tied her up, and forced her to transfer 104,546 baht to his Russian accomplice. She was released once the accomplice received the extorted money, she claims.
According to Pol Maj Gen Phanthana, another gang-related suspect has fled the country.