Vietnamese drug suspect held in Min Buri

Thai immigration police have detained a 41-year-old Vietnamese man in Bangkok's Min Buri district after receiving information that he was wanted in Vietnam over alleged drug trafficking.

The man, identified only as Mr Viet, was arrested outside a house in the Rom Klao area of Min Buri on Saturday, 25 July. Immigration officers have revoked his permission to stay in Thailand and are preparing to return him to Vietnamese authorities.

Tip-off led police to Rom Klao house

The operation was carried out by Immigration Bureau Investigation Division 2, led by Pol Col Phisit Sri-on, superintendent of the division, along with deputy superintendent Pol Lt Col Ratchakrit Ramchan and inspector Pol Lt Col Pichet Saengbandit.

Pol Capt Surasit Atchamnan led the investigation and Operational Unit 3 in taking the man into custody.

According to immigration police, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) had sent an urgent request asking officers to check the suspect's location and cancel his visa. The ONCB said he was considered a dangerous person under an arrest warrant issued by Vietnam's drug crime police for alleged narcotics trafficking.

Investigators later received a tip-off from a local informant that a foreign man matching the description supplied by Vietnamese authorities was staying at a house in the Rom Klao area.

Officers watched the property before approaching the man when he came outside. They identified themselves as immigration officials, checked his passport and verified his identity against official records before taking him to the Immigration Bureau's investigation division.

Permission to stay revoked

Immigration police said the man was subject to an arrest warrant from the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

They informed him that his permission to remain in Thailand had been revoked under Section 12(7) of the Immigration Act 1979. The provision bars entry or continued stay for people whose behaviour gives reason to believe they may pose a danger to society or threaten public peace or national security.

The Immigration Bureau said he was being held under the relevant immigration legal procedures while arrangements are made to coordinate his return to Vietnam, where he is expected to face further legal action.

Cross-border enforcement cooperation

Immigration police described the arrest as the result of cooperation between domestic security agencies, including the Immigration Bureau and ONCB, and international crime-fighting bodies.

The bureau said it was strengthening screening and enforcement measures aimed at preventing Thailand being used as a hiding place or operating base by transnational criminal networks.

Picture courtesy of Naewna

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26 July 2026

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