Crime Man Caught Smuggling 17.6kg of Heroin Hidden in Pet Food & Coffee

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of The Standard.

 

A Thai national has been arrested at the Nong Khai border checkpoint after attempting to smuggle more than 17.6 kilograms of heroin concealed within bags of pet food and coffee. The drugs, with an estimated street value of over 61 million baht, were intercepted during a joint operation by multiple law enforcement agencies.

 

The arrest took place around 18:30 on 16 May, when the suspect, identified only as Khunakon, entered Thailand from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, carrying two large bags. Inside were various consumer goods, including coffee and pet food. Customs officers became suspicious of the packaging and subjected the bags to an x-ray scan.

 

The scan revealed suspicious white powder hidden within five coffee bags and 13 bags of pet food, specifically cat and rabbit food. Field testing with ONCB051 reagent turned the samples purple, confirming the presence of a Category 1 narcotic, heroin.

 

Preliminary questioning revealed that Khunakon had travelled to Vientiane, Lao PDR, to seek information regarding his younger brother, who had been arrested there on charges related to the possession of e-cigarettes. While in Vientiane, he was contacted via WhatsApp by a woman named Pinthip, also known as “Eye,” who told him someone would deliver luggage for him to carry across the border.

 

At approximately 14:40 the same day, an unidentified Black male handed Khunakon the luggage and instructed him to deliver it to a domestic courier company in Songkhla province. The recipient’s information was to be provided after he had crossed into Thailand. Khunakon boarded a public bus back to Thailand and was apprehended while passing through customs.

 

Khunakon was taken into custody along with the narcotics and transferred to the investigative team for formal prosecution under the strict narcotics laws.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from The Standard 2025-05-18.

 

 

 

 

[newbee2022]

On 5/18/2025 at 5:28 AM, Georgealbert said:

 

Picture courtesy of The Standard.

 

A Thai national has been arrested at the Nong Khai border checkpoint after attempting to smuggle more than 17.6 kilograms of heroin concealed within bags of pet food and coffee. The drugs, with an estimated street value of over 61 million baht, were intercepted during a joint operation by multiple law enforcement agencies.

 

The arrest took place around 18:30 on 16 May, when the suspect, identified only as Khunakon, entered Thailand from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, carrying two large bags. Inside were various consumer goods, including coffee and pet food. Customs officers became suspicious of the packaging and subjected the bags to an x-ray scan.

 

The scan revealed suspicious white powder hidden within five coffee bags and 13 bags of pet food, specifically cat and rabbit food. Field testing with ONCB051 reagent turned the samples purple, confirming the presence of a Category 1 narcotic, heroin.

 

Preliminary questioning revealed that Khunakon had travelled to Vientiane, Lao PDR, to seek information regarding his younger brother, who had been arrested there on charges related to the possession of e-cigarettes. While in Vientiane, he was contacted via WhatsApp by a woman named Pinthip, also known as “Eye,” who told him someone would deliver luggage for him to carry across the border.

 

At approximately 14:40 the same day, an unidentified Black male handed Khunakon the luggage and instructed him to deliver it to a domestic courier company in Songkhla province. The recipient’s information was to be provided after he had crossed into Thailand. Khunakon boarded a public bus back to Thailand and was apprehended while passing through customs.

 

Khunakon was taken into custody along with the narcotics and transferred to the investigative team for formal prosecution under the strict narcotics laws.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from The Standard 2025-05-18.

 

 

 

 

I wonder how many years he will disappear in prison😳

[hotchilli]

On 5/18/2025 at 5:28 AM, Georgealbert said:

The scan revealed suspicious white powder hidden within five coffee bags

That must be some hi-tech X-ray that can detect different colours within mixed powders?

[Nickcage49]

Yes, I often travel with pet food, lol

[gjoo888]

1 minute ago, Nickcage49 said:

Yes, I often travel with pet food, lol

Coffee too, because it's so hard to find in Thailand.

[TexasCowboy]

3 hours ago, Nickcage49 said:

Yes, I often travel with pet food, lol

Success leaves clues.

[TexasCowboy]

3 hours ago, gjoo888 said:

Coffee too, because it's so hard to find in Thailand.

That special white espresso from land of Laos.

[saakura]

"At approximately 14:40 the same day, an unidentified Black male handed Khunakon the luggage and instructed him to deliver it to a domestic courier company in Songkhla province."

How stupid of him to accept parcels from an unknown person? 

[VBF]

5 hours ago, gjoo888 said:

Coffee too, because it's so hard to find in Thailand.

Slightly but  I DO bring a couple of plastic jars of instant coffee in my suitcase when I visit Thailand.

My chosen Gold Blend is much cheaper in UK, plus I cannot just get it at 7/11 - I need to make an effort and go to a bigger shop. Rather just pack it at home.

[cynic1]

I cannot see the face or a blurred  face of the person in question, unless it was the man standing there in a purple shirt with the microphone promoting a new high and states, " that coffee and heroin combined is fantastic and I'm so 'out of it' I cannot think of a brand name for it but I like ,"Purple Rain"

[KhunBENQ]

4 hours ago, saakura said:

How stupid of him to accept parcels from an unknown person? 

He plays naive and lies.

Bet he knew what he was doing and got a good premium.

Coffee and pet food from the "black male" 🤣 

Recipient in the dark until the smuggling succeeds.

 

 

 

 

 

[Davedub]

All presented as if this will make any difference to drug supplies or reduce overall drug harm.

 

It won't.

 

Drugs won the war on drugs, decades ago.

The only result of this bust is that some hapless mule will get the 'lock them up and throw away the key' treatment, that's all. Without condoning what he has done, I am of the opinion that taking such a risk is almost certainly an act of desparation or the result of coercion, blackmail or exploitation. This is a sad situation.

 

I'm not even going to bother banging my usual drum on the subject - suffice to say that education and the provision of mental health care are the answers if the goal is truly to reduce drug harm. See my many previous posts on the subject for further details.