Two Thais And An Australian Extradited To America

[sriracha john]

Two Thais, Australian extradited to US

Two Thai nationals and an Australian serving 40 years for heroin dealing have been extradited to Indiana state in America to face federal charges in an alleged international heroin ring being run from Klong Prem prison in Nonthaburi. US officials said on Friday the two Thais were Suwanee Sriprasarn, supposedly the chief go-between of the drug gang on the outside, and Paisit Bencharit, a prisoner.

Also sent to America was Australian Mitchell Blake, alias Martin Garnett, who was serving a 40-year heroin smuggling term in Thai prison.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116860

[sriracha john]

2 extradited from Thailand to Indiana for drug charges

HAMMOND, Indiana, USA — Two people have been extradited from Thailand to face federal charges here they shipped heroin with a street value worth more than $1 million to an Indiana man.

Suwannee Sriprasarn and Paisit Bencharit were indicted by a federal grand jury, along with Mitchell Blake, of Australia, in May 2002 on a charge of international heroin importation conspiracy. They are accused of shipping heroin to Indiana between January 1999 and April 2001.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said Sriprasarn was arrested by Thai officials in September 2005 at the Cambodia border and Bencharit was arrested in Bangkok the following month. They remained in Thai custody until they were turned over to U.S. Marshals this week.

Sriprasarn and Bencharit made their initial court appearances Friday and were ordered held without bond by federal Magistrate Andrew Rodovich.

Prosecutors allege Jason Burke of East Chicago bought 200 grams of heroin from the Thai organization in 2000 for about $80,000, but he still owed $70,000 two months later.

Burke received a two-year prison sentence in exchange for cooperating with authorities. After Burke's arrest, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent contacted Blake and arranged a "sample" delivery of 10 grams of heroin to Crown Point.

In April 2001, the agent traveled to Thailand, where Sriprasarn took the agent to the Bang Kwang Central Prison, where Blake and Bencharit coordinated the operation from their cells, court records allege.

"(Bencharit) assured the undercover agent that despite the fact that he and (Blake) were inmates of the Bang Kwang prison, they would have no problem acquiring and distributing heroin," the indictment states. "(They) conduct their heroin distribution business through the use of cellular telephones, a privilege that costs them approximately $450 a month in payments to their Thai jailers."

Sriprasarn, who was Blake's girlfriend, coordinated the mailings of money and drugs outside the prison.

A total of 1.25 kilograms of high-purity heroin was seized as a result of the operation, Van Bokkelen said. Blake is serving a sentence in Thailand and remains in Thai custody.

- Associated Press

[kmart]

With so much money involved, I'm surprised Blake wasn't able to "buy" his freedom from jail.

[marshbags]

"We always strive to take (drug busts) to the top of the ladder - 'chopping off the head of the snake', we call it. Those opportunities don't present themselves too often," said Don Rospond, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Northern Indiana office.

"When it actually comes to fruition like this, it's something to be proud of."

This part of the quote should interest / generate comment relating to the correct way to cut off supplies and unlike Toxin just go for the tail end distributors, which serves no positive purpose if you are really honest with your intentions to get rid of drugs.

Especially those who keep insisting his policy was the correct one to take ????

Again it was his intention to keep the PUYAI in business while making political gains, silencing the tail enders ( who where considered insignificant in society ) and as such using them as capital.

You should always at the top in these sort of situations and cut off the supply at source !!! IMHO

Which i have long voiced of course

marshbags

Edited February 17, 2007 by marshbags

[womble]

"We always strive to take (drug busts) to the top of the ladder - 'chopping off the head of the snake', we call it. Those opportunities don't present themselves too often," said Don Rospond, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Northern Indiana office.

"When it actually comes to fruition like this, it's something to be proud of."

This part of the quote should interest / generate comment relating to the correct way to cut off supplies and unlike Toxin just go for the tail end distributors, which serves no positive purpose if you are really honest with your intentions to get rid of drugs.

Especially those who keep insisting his policy was the correct one to take ????

Again it was his intention to keep the PUYAI in business while making political gains, silencing the tail enders ( who where considered insignificant in society ) and as such using them as capital.

You should always at the top in these sort of situations and cut off the supply at source !!! IMHO

Which i have long voiced of course

marshbags

I do not in any way agree with the methods employed in Thaksins war on drugs, but the simple fact that prices more than doubled is evidence that it certainly was successful in restricting the supply of drugs.

The supply wasn't stopped, but for prices to raise that much in such a relatively short time it was probobally one of the most successful attempts at reducing drug flow anywhere, ever.

The methods used and the loss of life are appalling but that does not mean it didn't work.

[kmart]

"We always strive to take (drug busts) to the top of the ladder - 'chopping off the head of the snake', we call it. Those opportunities don't present themselves too often," said Don Rospond, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Northern Indiana office.

"When it actually comes to fruition like this, it's something to be proud of."

This part of the quote should interest / generate comment relating to the correct way to cut off supplies and unlike Toxin just go for the tail end distributors, which serves no positive purpose if you are really honest with your intentions to get rid of drugs.

Especially those who keep insisting his policy was the correct one to take ????

Again it was his intention to keep the PUYAI in business while making political gains, silencing the tail enders ( who where considered insignificant in society ) and as such using them as capital.

You should always at the top in these sort of situations and cut off the supply at source !!! IMHO

Which i have long voiced of course

marshbags

I do not in any way agree with the methods employed in Thaksins war on drugs, but the simple fact that prices more than doubled is evidence that it certainly was successful in restricting the supply of drugs.

The supply wasn't stopped, but for prices to raise that much in such a relatively short time it was probobally one of the most successful attempts at reducing drug flow anywhere, ever.

The methods used and the loss of life are appalling but that does not mean it didn't work.

There are still a lot of drugs out there. The media was ordered to suppress drug-related stories is all.

All Toxin did was murder a lot of people. A green light for some of his pals in the Police to settle old scores and get rid of competitors / people in their way.

That quite a few low-lives who might otherwise be breaking into your house were slaughtered also was an obvious bonus; it was still just mass-murder on a grand scale.

Edited February 17, 2007 by kmart

[Jimjim]

With so much money involved, I'm surprised Blake wasn't able to "buy" his freedom from jail.

Thailand takes drug smuggling very seriously.

[StateSix]

With so much money involved, I'm surprised Blake wasn't able to "buy" his freedom from jail.

Thailand takes drug smuggling very seriously.

Unless the smuggler is an influential person, knows influential people or has a lot of money

[meom]

Two Thais, Australian extradited to US

Two Thai nationals and an Australian serving 40 years for heroin dealing have been extradited to Indiana state in America..

I thought countries normally don't extradite their own nationals. Somebody can clarify?

[dave111223]

Correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't being moved from a Thai prision to a US prision be an upgrade, and if so doesn't this encourage prisioners to do this kind of thing if they know they may get moved to the US?

[Lucifer]

Making money from within a Thai prison eh?

They should be taken to the US.........and given a Senators job.

[skippybangkok]

How stupid....they should be left in a Thai prison...... Doubt americans would be more harsh

[StateSix]

How stupid....they should be left in a Thai prison...... Doubt americans would be more harsh

They were connected enough to run a heroin smuggling ring from the Thai prison, apparently without the Thai authorities doing anything, so I imagine they were connected and powerful enough to pay off guards and buy themselves a comfortable existence inside. In an American prison they will not have that power and be at risk of assaults and rapes every day. I know which position I would rather be in.

[sriracha john]

Australian on drug charges

AN AUSTRALIAN drug trafficker and two Thais have been extradited to the US to stand trial on charges of running an international drug smuggling ring from inside a prison near Bangkok.

Australian Mitchell Blake, alias Martin Garnett, was serving 26 years and nine months for heroin dealing in Thailand.

Blake and two Thai nationals -- a man and a woman -- arrived in Hammond, Indiana, this week and will face federal charges over an alleged heroin trafficking ring being run from Bang Kwang prison in Nonthaburi.

US officials said yesterday the Thais were Blake's girlfriend, Suwanee Sriprasarn, allegedly the chief go-between of the drug gang on the outside, and Paisit Bencharit, a prisoner.

The multi-million-dollar drugs racket came to light after the arrest of a Chicago man seven years ago, according to the Bangkok Post.

His evidence led to the discovery of the clandestine Thai network, in which Blake and Sriprasarn allegedly bribed prison guards to get mobile phones smuggled into the prison.

They then allegedly used an elaborate "marketing" system to sell the drugs via international mail, according to federal court records in the US.

If convicted, the three face lengthy sentences in a US high-security prison.

- news.com.au

[sriracha john]

"(Bencharit) assured the undercover agent that despite the fact that he and (Blake) were inmates of the Bang Kwang prison, they would have no problem acquiring and distributing heroin," the indictment states. "(They) conduct their heroin distribution business through the use of cellular telephones, a privilege that costs them approximately $450 a month in payments to their Thai jailers."

It's academic now, but wondering if this played any role in the inside prison workings:

From the Foreign Prisoner Support Service website:

Prisoners Requesting Contact:

Mr. Mitchell Blake, building 6 *

* For visitors, Building 4, 5, 6 Drugs: Monday only 09:00-12:00, 13:00-14:30

[sriracha john]

Always an interesting time when googling:

Mitchell Blake, Australian drug convict

Blake Mitchell, American porn star

Blake Mitchell, American football player for the University of South Carolina (Team name: Gamecocks)

Edited February 19, 2007 by sriracha john

[LaoPo]

Always an interesting time when googling:

Mitchell Blake, Australian drug convict

Blake Mitchell, American porn star

I suppose Mitchell would love to be in Blake's arms right now, wouldn't he ?

LaoPo

[Scott]

A previous poster inquired about countries extraditing their own nationals--most countries will/do, provided that they are in agreement with the possible punishments for the type of crime. The U.S. and Thailand have similar strick and long sentences for offences--more so than the European Union countries.

I will be curious about the evidence. It would seem that there must have been some collusion with guards etc.

[StateSix]

The UK have recently extradited their own nationals to the USA. The so-called Natwest Three (details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three) for example. The USA do not reciprocate in similar circumstances.

[Krungthepian]

Been some speculation as to whether Blake actually has been sent to the US. The other two allegedly went but a prisons activist has claimed Blake (Garnett) still here in Bkk.

[Pink Mist]

will they be charged within 5 years and do they have to change the laws to charge them ?

[Acquiesce]

Are any of the Thai prison guards being charged with any offences?

[bkkbound04]

sounds like an upgrade

from what i've read on thai prsions and the poverty i've witnessed in thailand i'll bet these guys are happy to go..

if they are international drug dealers they aren't gonna get trouble from the tough street thugs, the street thugs get their familly wiped out so they actually gopher for the big boys

[sriracha john]

UPDATE.... the Thais plead guilty (but one wants to back out of it now) and the Australian was never extradited...

Thai heroin dealers plead guilty

A street-level drug bust in East Chicago led to guilty pleas from a Thai couple who admitted to operating an international heroin smuggling ring out of a maximum-security prison in Bangkok.

Chief Judge Robert Miller Jr. accepted the guilty pleas in South Bend federal court Wednesday of Suwannee Spriprasarn and Pasit Bencharit, who claimed they were working with an Australian man -- also in the Thai prison -- to ship large packages of heroin to the United States.

"We live in a global society," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Berkowitz said. "This is coming from Thailand to the Northern District of Indiana."

Spriprasarn is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 9 for pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute heroin. She faces up to 20 years in a U.S. prison.

But Bencharit's sentencing might be postponed. His attorney, Philip Skodinski, said Thursday his client intends to try to withdraw the guilty plea he entered in August through a Thai interpreter because Bencharit no longer feels he was guilty of aiding and abetting heroin possession with the intention to distribute.

Prosecutors allege Bencharit was in prison working with an Australian, Mitchell Blake, who was already serving a lengthy sentence in the Bang Kwang Central Prison. The Thai government has refused to extradite Blake.

Bencharit and Blake communicated with the outside world using cellular phones, for which they had to bribe their guards $450 a month, the indictment states. Spriprasarn worked on the outside the prison coordinating payments and shipments through international mail carriers.

The case began in 2000 when authorities picked up an East Chicago dealer named Jason Burke, who eventually told authorities how he ordered heroin through the mail, court records state.

Authorities tested the story by having a small shipment mailed to Crown Point and then sent an undercover agent to the Thai prison to meet the men, who assured the agent that their being in prison would not hinder their ability to deliver the drugs, court records state.

A total of 1.25 kilograms, or nearly 3 pounds, of heroin was seized as a result of the operation.

- The Times (Indiana, USA)

[sriracha john]

Thai drug dealer takes plea

A 2005 heroin case that stretched from the streets of East Chicago to the cells of a Thai prison has moved closer toward conclusion.

The federal court in South Bend accepted the guilty plea of Suwannee Sriprasarn, a Thai national, Wednesday, on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin. He faces up to 20 years in a U.S. prison when sentenced on Friday, Nov. 9.

Sriprasarn, along with co-defendants Paisit Bencharit, also a Thai national, and Mitchell Blake, an Australian national, were charged together in the alleged drug ring. Blake and Bencharit are accused of operating the mail-order operation out of a Thai prison; Sriprasarn was accused of being their outside accomplice.

Blake is awaiting trial in the U.S. pending completion of his prison term in Thailand.

Bencharit is contesting the guilty plea that he entered in U.S. federal court in August.

"I think (Sriprasarn's guilty plea) is a good resolution," said Diane Berkowitz, the assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case. "... It's been a very successful investigation. It starts out a small time dealer in East Chicago and it goes all the way into Thailand and beyond."

Federal authorities arrested Jason Burke, an East Chicago resident, in 2000 on drug dealing charges. Burke cooperated with authorities, revealing an alleged system of mailed payments, encrypted e-mail messages and cell phone calls that he used to secure heroin from his suppliers, a trail that eventually led investigators to the Thai prison.

- Post Tribune (Indiana, USA)

[stevenjm]

Absolutely amazing. Thailand lets an agent in from the US to carry out illegal activity in Thailand and then agrees to extradition of 2 of its own citizens to the US who have only broken Local laws and never even been there.

US as usual running its own show and claiming to have world wide juristiction.

[Briggsy]

They haven't extradited the Ozzie as he would happily shop the Thai prison officials who were part of his drug ring. Not that Thailand would agree to any extraditions of government officials but it could spoil the overseas holidays that they and their familiest take and their kids' overseas education.

[lazeeboy]

Are any of the Thai prison guards being charged with any offences?

no thai guards were involved

[wpcoe]

"(They) conduct their heroin distribution business through the use of cellular telephones, a privilege that costs them approximately $450 a month in payments to their Thai jailers."

Are any of the Thai prison guards being charged with any offences?

no thai guards were involved

Assuming that is US$, the monthly payment to the "Thai jailers" was about B15,000/month. I wonder if that was per jailer, or a total sum for several of them?

[Smithson]

Did the undercover US agent have a work permit?