Filipina Arrested At Suvarnabhumi With 3.2kg Of Cocaine

[JackSterling]

really stupid people out there...

[Stjohnm]

Sad, she must have really needed the cash do do something so desperate.

[the_webninja]

She must have fell for one of those Nigerian Scam artist things

Every time I leave Bangkok they search my Luggage, and go through all my stuff, I don't know what made her think she could get away with this? I feel guilty every time they find all my Whips and Chains and Handcuffs Thank goodness most of the times have been an understanding Thai Female Customs Agent who didn't give me any trouble about it. She just smiled the last time and waved me through.

[webfact]

Police nab Nigerian drug smuggler

HAT YAI: -- A Nigerian man was arrested at the Hat Yai bus station Wednesday for allegedly smuggling 15 kilograms of heroin worth Bt22.5 million from Malaysia.

The suspect Ebere Okorie, 38, was apprehended allegedly with the drugs hidden in six picture frames while he was boarding a bus to Bangkok. The street value of the heroin in Thailand is Bt22.5 million, and could be worth Bt2.25 billion overseas.

The suspect reportedly confessed he was given US$3,500 (Bt113,343) every time he transported the drugs into Thailand from Malaysia via a checkpoint in Songkhla province's Sadao district.

-- The Nation 2010-03-24

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[TAWP]

The suspect reportedly confessed he was given US$3,500 (Bt113,343) every time he transported the drugs into Thailand from Malaysia via a checkpoint in Songkhla province's Sadao district.

That explains the gold watches...

[Colabamumbai]

Some questions here: can law enforcement specialists here tell what % of smuggled drugs travel by air?

What % of the drugs transports by air are actually intercepted?

(Thai police acted on a tip-off)

The last question would be why the woman was not turned by the police to get her clients in flagranti?

You can be sure that she was turned to reduce her sentence.

[britmaveric]

Flipper coming from Peru? Now if that isnt a big red flag for being stopped I don't know what is. Well she will be spending a lifetime in the monkey house, so she will have plenty time to think about it!

[Colabamumbai]

I

When will these people learn?

No, when will governments learn that prohibition has not worked with anything in humanity. We are an adaptive species. Alcohol, gambling, prostitution, drugs. Alcohol, gambling and prostitution are now legal in most countries. All a bust like this will do is push up the street value which then pushes up the amount of crime the addict has to do to afford their next hit. So, when you are happy to see a bust like this, it has just made "the street" a more dangerous place for you and increased the chances of you being a victim of property theft or robbery by violence. It's all a supply and demand market force. When will governments, around the world, view it as a medical issue, instead of a crime issue. This would cut out the black economy. Most western countries prescribe methadone as a substitue. What deterent did the death penalty have on this courier? Zero deterent. What deterent does gaol sentences have on users, zero deterent. Having said this, more people die from alcohol and tobacco than illicit drugs, WHY, because the government taxes alcohol and tobacco.

I totally agree with your post althought there may be some dissenters here.Addiction is a medical issue.

[Colabamumbai]

For once, I feel very sorry for that desperate lady and hope she gets leniancy. She was being used.

Why did the police just not track her to the bastards who used her and are the REAL criminals?

You can be sure the Thai Police will be visiting their hotel or slum or already have. You confess to the Thai police to get some leniency on your sentence. Also every Thai will grass on every foreigner in this country.They have nothing to loose and everything to gain. A word of advice. You are temporary here. They are not.

[Moonrakers]

For once, I feel very sorry for that desperate lady and hope she gets leniancy. She was being used.

Why did the police just not track her to the bastards who used her and are the REAL criminals?

You can be sure the Thai Police will be visiting their hotel or slum or already have. You confess to the Thai police to get some leniency on your sentence. Also every Thai will grass on every foreigner in this country.They have nothing to loose and everything to gain. A word of advice. You are temporary here. They are not.

You are assuming that she even knows where the rest of the 'gang' are. She might have just arranged to meet them somewhere such as a park someday.

[uncertaintimes]

She's basically thrown her life away for 1,000 dollars. She must be very stupid or very desperate.

How can these people not be checking this out. They are not getting away with this stuff anymore. Prison for life in Thailand, I would rather be shot.

[DickFarang]

Whilst strolling along Beach Road Pattaya last week (well of course I was not really there!!) I was sidled up to 4 times by Thai men in half hour, offering Cocaine. Their spiel was identical "what you want -cocaine!"

Unlike you, I often “really” stroll along Pattaya Beach Road and I have never been offered cocaine.

Anyway, it is not my cup of tea and I guess the traffickers are not stupid enough to lose their time.

[sawadeeken]

I think that even tho she was carrying the stuff there was another of the cartel was following her without her knowledge and when he saw her busted he just continues on.............. If she would have made it thru customs then he would have followed her to the delivery............. SOUND PROBABLE?????

[GungaDin]

This is what's at stake.

[maxpower]

Lots of armchair drug trafficking experts here.

My wife works at Bangkok airport and although her knowledge of customs procedures is limited she does know that there are special procedures for tip offs. There will certainly be a luggage delay for the whole flight and in cases where drugs are found in luggage whose id code matches the ticket of the suspect, drugs are often removed and replaced with a harmless substance to allow a follow on procedure. Also, if a tipoff is received well before a flight lands, customs will request ticket booking detail for the whole flight and check the passenger list on immigration database.

Customs are well aware that drug traffickers throw in red herrings.

[BigC]

She's basically thrown her life away for 1,000 dollars. She must be very stupid or very desperate.

another one goes down. how many more people will get nicked before they realise it ain't worth doing. i wouldn't do it for 76 million baht let alone 1000 dollars. how much money can u spend on death row or 99 years inside

[raminisme]

When will these people learn?

An Idiot will never learn, that is why they are called idiots. Farangs arrested everyday trying to smuggle drugs in or out of Thai but there is another thousand idiots lined up saying it will not happen to me.

Some people just do not heed or accept warnings. Every airport in the world gives warings about drug smuggling. Enjoy your stay and the rest of your life on a cold concrete floor fighting and scrapping for food thrown on the floor like a pack of dogs.

[bangkokdenied]

How many times she done it before get cut

[neverdie]

When will these people learn?

When these silly powders become legal.

Ohhh apparently thats going to happen on the 4th of Never

[raminisme]

When will these people learn?

When these silly powders become legal.

Ohhh apparently thats going to happen on the 4th of Never

oy a drug addicted fool would call for these tings to become legal. Only the drug taffickers, dealers and users.

[alstaxi]

All you guys saying she is desperate or stupid have no idea how much gets through. Had she not been ratted out she likely doesn't get busted. I'll bet 90%+ of shipments make it through undetected and 75%+ of people busted just lose the drugs and a bribe to the cops.

I won't be running coke anytime soon but I can easily see the risk/reward being attractive to a personal with titanium testicles.

Don't be so naive, you cant always bribe your way out of things in Thailand. If the police accepted bribes all the time then the prisons would not be overcrowded as they are now.

Speaking of naive, Thai prisons are full of people who did not have the cash or intelligence to bribe the bib.

[gemini81]

sitting at the webcam making promises to elderly men would've been a lot more lucrative and less painful

[tonglen]

The gov't should grant her complete immunity from persecution, total absolution in return for the info leading to the arrest of the money men.

These are the real problem, here.

[Jonathanpattaya]

A Filipina arrested with 3.2Kg of crack. It would be like waving a sausage around in the Albert Hall really!

[chesneychez]

Usually they have 2 - 3 people on the same flight, and 1 will always be unlucky as the escape goat so the others get through to cause diversion at the airport. This is where the tip off has come from. One of the guys phones in anonymously. You can guarantee that over 1 million dollars worth got through on the same flight.

It does make sense. Before this i was thinking who the heck provide information to the police ?

[Sabre]

All of these a analyses are quite interesting, some of them might possibly be accurate - but almost all of them seem to gloss over one important fact - the cops ARE the drug lords. That 3.2kg would have gone straight back out on the streets, the proceeds would have gone straight into the pockets of the BiB, and the woman - straight to jail.

[khaowong1]

Some questions here: can law enforcement specialists here tell what % of smuggled drugs travel by air?

What % of the drugs transports by air are actually intercepted?

(Thai police acted on a tip-off)

The last question would be why the woman was not turned by the police to get her clients in flagranti?

I don't think it's possible to answer the first two questions. To do so you would have to know how much total traffic there really is. I don't think they know that. I'm quite sure the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration doesn't know that in the States.

As to your last point, there are a number of possible answers. A cynic would probably say the police don't want to arrest the kingpins, because they're getting paid large amounts of protection money. A really hard-core cynic would say it's because the kingpins are already known and are high ranking government officials. A slightly less cynical person might point out that there would be a risk that their prisoner might escape if they tried playing complicated games, and there is no guarantee her contact in Bangkok would be caught with evidence that would convict him/her. They have one person they can arrest, try, and convict; it's better not to be greedy.

I was buying into this story until you got to the "it's better not to be greedy" part. This is the Thai police your talking about.. they are the greediest law enforcement people I know of in the world, except for probably the police in parts of Africa. So, lets just believe in the first two parts of your statement and forget the last...

[khaowong1]

All of these a analyses are quite interesting, some of them might possibly be accurate - but almost all of them seem to gloss over one important fact - the cops ARE the drug lords. That 3.2kg would have gone straight back out on the streets, the proceeds would have gone straight into the pockets of the BiB, and the woman - straight to jail.

it doesn't take a genius to figure that out...

[khaowong1]

The gov't should grant her complete immunity from persecution, total absolution in return for the info leading to the arrest of the money men.

These are the real problem, here.

you missed some very well put points here... go back and read them again..

1. Thai Police

2. Lot's and Lot's of Drug money to be spread around..

3. do you really don't believe that the Thai police don't know who the money men are? duh...

[elektrified]

For once, I feel very sorry for that desperate lady and hope she gets leniancy. She was being used.

Why did the police just not track her to the bastards who used her and are the REAL criminals?

I usually don't feel sorry for these people but in this case I would have to agree with the poster above. Any one who would take that kind of a risk for a mere 1000 USD must be at a very desperate point in her life.

I too, hope she gets some leniency. Cut her a deal and catch the real criminals behind this. She was being used.