Crime Romanian Tourist Caught Smuggling 3.5kg of Heroin at Suvarnabhumi Airport

[Georgealbert]

Picture courtesy of Khaosod

 

Customs officers have arrested a 50-year-old Romanian woman who attempted to smuggle more than 3.5 kilograms of heroin out of the country via Suvarnabhumi Airport. The narcotics have an estimated street value of over 1 million baht.

 

The woman was apprehended on 26 July, as she was preparing to board a Vietnam Airlines flight bound for Taiwan via Hanoi. Authorities confirmed that the arrest was the result of an ongoing operation targeting international drug trafficking through Thailand’s borders.

 

Phanthong Loykulnan, spokesperson for the The Customs Department, said the operation involved close cooperation between several agencies, including the department’s Investigation and Suppression Division, the Suvarnabhumi Airport Passenger Inspection Office, the Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF) and narcotics suppression police.

 

Acting on intelligence reports, officers identified the suspect at the Vietnam Airlines check-in counter. Her luggage was flagged during routine X-ray screening, prompting a detailed search. Inside a black hard-shell suitcase, officers found a backpack and bedding set concealing packets of white powder.

 

Field testing using ONCB051 Marquis reagent, confirmed the substance was heroin when it turned purple upon chemical reaction. The total weight of the drugs was confirmed at 3.56 kilograms.

 

The suspect has been charged under Thailand’s Customs Act of 2017 for attempting to export Category 1 narcotics (heroin) and for possession of a controlled substance.

 

Authorities emphasised that the case underscores Thailand’s dual role as both a target and transit point for international drug networks. Suvarnabhumi Airport continues to serve as a crucial checkpoint in the country’s fight against drug smuggling.

 

According to Customs Department figures, between 1 October 2024 and 24 July 2025, officials have intercepted narcotics including crystal methamphetamine (ice), heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine pills in 187 separate cases. The total estimated value of the seizures exceeds 1.157 billion baht.

 

The woman remains in custody pending further legal proceedings.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-07-27

 

 

 

[sammieuk1]

Goodnight and see you in 25 years or so🤔

[thesetat]

Seems like Thailand has got a lot more snitches now telling them when to expect drugs to pass through their checkpoints. I do not know if the drug dealers in Thailand are as smart as the ones from Bolivia and Columbia. They use the tactic of giving the officials details about someone smuggling to keep the police busy arresting that person and all the while, 5 other smugglers pass through the checkpoints at that time. Lose one shipment and keep 5. This keeps the police happy and the drug dealers. 

I really do not think the main dealers are losing so many shipments as they are sending out. 

[KhunBENQ]

Should have put him and the stuff to a flight to Singapore.

[novacova]

2 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Customs officers have arrested a 50-year-old Romanian woman who attempted to smuggle more than 3.5 kilograms of heroin out of the country

Another daredevil. Wonder how many make it through…

[chuang]

I didn't know someone asked me to carry for him..

I am not a drug trafficker..

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, thesetat said:

They use the tactic of giving the officials details about someone smuggling to keep the police busy arresting that person and all the while, 5 other smugglers pass through the checkpoints at that time. Lose one shipment and keep 5.

B0llocks, urban myth that only one traveler and their luggage is checked and everyone else is allowed through unmolested.

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, thesetat said:

Seems like Thailand has got a lot more snitches now telling them when to expect drugs to pass through their checkpoints.

You use the word "snitches" as though informants are a bad thing disrupting the honourable drug smugglers' activities.

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, novacova said:

Another daredevil. Wonder how many make it through…

Another one who believes that Customs officers can only and do only check one person and their baggage per flight.  Ridiculous.

[Asean Tiger]

Taiwan used to do the Death announcement for smugglers on flights. Have not noticed it recently

8 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Should have put him and the stuff to a flight to Singapore.

 

[hotchilli]

On 7/27/2025 at 6:21 AM, sammieuk1 said:

Goodnight and see you in 25 years or so🤔

I don't think she'll see daylight again...unless they let her out into the exercise yard.

[black tabby12345]

Another Quality Tourist's arrival  for decades of free accom behind bars...

[newbee2022]

Life time sentence, please

[sultan2011]

On 7/27/2025 at 12:21 AM, sammieuk1 said:

Goodnight and see you in 25 years or so🤔

Doesn't bare thinking about does it . .what on earth posseses them to take such risks.

[bamnutsak]

AFAIK, heroin is not produced in Thailand, so someone smuggled it into Thailand, likely from Myanmar.

 

 

[Kleepanna]

She is in the twilight of life I doubt she will serve the full sentence when it is handed down.

[soalbundy]

What a long holiday this is going to be.

[Grumpy one]

Don't forget to request a room with a view on the 14th floor of the police hospital, when you get flown there for a miracle cure for something you don't have

[JJ-Thailand]

One more idiot trying.

[thecyclist]

On 7/27/2025 at 4:34 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

You use the word "snitches" as though informants are a bad thing disrupting the honourable drug smugglers' activities.

For the mafia/drug trafficking gang you are a snitch  For the authorities you are an informant. It all depends on perspective. Snitching on the mafia often means" death penalty ".

[thecyclist]

4 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Don't forget to request a room with a view on the 14th floor of the police hospital, when you get flown there for a miracle cure for something you don't have

Requirement for  that is being squared faced and belonging to a certain clan. Not everyone qualifies.

[Grumpy one]

1 hour ago, thecyclist said:

Requirement for  that is being squared faced and belonging to a certain clan. Not everyone qualifies.

She can only try  

[black tabby12345]

Study destination before planning any trips within without.

Should have known the consequences of drug trafficking in Indochina.

How can these people be this stupid?

[black tabby12345]

6 hours ago, soalbundy said:

What a long holiday this is going to be.

 

Not much money?

No problems.

"Privileged" to stay here for free for indefinite period, in return for the payload brought in...

[black tabby12345]

 

On 7/27/2025 at 7:50 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Should have put him and the stuff to a flight to Singapore.

 

Their most recent execution of the drug trafficker:

 

ttps://www.cnb.gov.sg/NewsAndEvents/News/Index/execution-of-a-convicted-drug-trafficker---23-january-2025#:~:text=The%20Misuse%20of%20Drugs%20Act,460%20abusers%20for%20a%20week.

 

[cynic1]

Another one bites the dust.

 

 

[vangrop]

On 7/27/2025 at 2:50 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Should have put him and the stuff to a flight to Singapore.

her

[KannikaP]

On 7/27/2025 at 7:50 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Should have put him and the stuff to a flight to Singapore.

Sorry Benq, you got there before me. HIM?

[vangrop]

8 hours ago, black tabby12345 said:

Another Quality Tourist's arrival  for decades of free accom behind bars...

Romanian, quality tourist is, it a joke. Ex Ceaucescu's Romania used to be and is still one of the poorest regions of Europ

[JemJem]

I have noticed that, especially in the last decade or so, about half (or maybe the majority) the foreign people caught smuggling drugs in Thailand are well past 40 or so years old. Interesting and sad, taking such a big risk at such a mature age.