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Police Take Down Nigerian Transnational Drug Network in Thailand
During a police raid on 17 locations in Bangkok and nearby provinces in Thailand, eight members of a Nigerian-led multinational drug network were apprehended.
Teams from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) and officials from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted the raids to detain suspected drug offenders, said Pol Lt Gen Khirisak Tantinawachai, acting chief of the NSB, on Friday.
Three Thai women, four Nigerian males, and one Ivory Coast guy were apprehended during the operation. Four cars were seized, as well as 17-baht worth of gold ornaments and some illegal drugs – 350 grammes of heroin, 49 grammes of cocaine, and six grammes of crystal methamphetamine. The total estimated worth of the confiscated items was approximately 2.5 million baht.
Thatsanee, Kranokkra, and Rattanaporn were the only Thai ladies identified.
The operation followed evidence that a Nigerian leader of a drug network based in Nigeria had urged a close associate, Joseph or Mickey, living in Thailand, to distribute illicit substances in the kingdom.
According to Pol Lt Gen Khirisak, Mickey and his Thai wife Thatsanee opened a bank account to receive money transfers from the narcotics activity. According to Pol Lt Gen Khirisak, Mr Mickey had his Thai wife, Thatsanee, open a bank account to accept money transfers from the narcotics activity.
The network had sold illegal substances at nightclubs in Bangkok and nearby areas. It had also trafficked illegal substances into other nations, including Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.
With about 20 members, the network laundered drug money by purchasing items like as shirts, shoes, and dried fish, which were then shipped to Africa via logistics companies.
According to the officer, Thai women who were wives or girlfriends of Nigeran drug suspects functioned as nominees to launder money for the network.
The eight suspects were in police custody awaiting legal proceedings. The inquiry was being expanded in order to apprehend other network members.
