Four Indians Arrested With 8.5kg Of 'Ice' Worth US$1m In Bangkok Shopping Area

[webfact]

Four Indians arrested with 8.5kg of 'ice'

BANGKOK, Nov 16 – Four alleged drug smugglers, Indian nationals, have been arrested in possession of 8.5kg of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice', valued at Bt32 million (over US$1 million) in Bangkok’s Pratunam shopping area, Police Chief Wichean Potephosree said on Tuesday.

The detainees were identified as Saravanam Karuppiah, Abbas Seyed Buhari, Mohamed Mustafa Kucuptheen and Abdulsalam Maidem Pitchai.

Their arrest followed a tipoff that drug traffickers would be transitting Pratunam before smuggling the drugs out of the country.

Tourist police responded and observed two men behaving suspiciously. Asking to search the suspects’ baggage, they found the ‘ice’ in a powdered detergent bag and a metal foil coffee bag concealed in their baggage.

The police detained the duo to a hotel’s room and arrested two others who were suspected of involvement in the drug smuggling gang.

A preliminary investigation found the ‘ice’ with a total weight of 8.5kg was imported from India and the group used Thailand as a transit point to smuggle the crystal meth into the neighbouring country of Malaysia. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-11-16

[Deez]

Smuggled inot thailand and then planned to smuggle out agian??? What a Master Plan

[Para]

Bangkok is a well known transit point for Australian and New Zealand bound drugs. Why do you think the body scanners are at departures????

[londonthai]

it says, at the end of the article, "smuggle to malesia", so rather not australia or nz.

body scanners are in many airports around the world - at heathrow T4 they were since 2001 (after 7/11), but many more introduced since the spring, after the attempted underwear bomber on a US flight.

drugs do travel around the world in each and every direction - depending where are easier to smuggle to

[webfact]

Tip-off leads to 'ice' arrests

Four Indian men were arrested along with 8.5 kilograms of 'ice', or crystalline methamphetamine, worth Bt32 million, Tourist Police chief Pol MajGen Adis Ngamjitsuksri told a press conference Tuesday.

Following a tip-off that four Indian men would take the drugs to a store in Bangkok's Pratunam area, police on Monday evening spotted the group and searched the luggage of one of them. Police claim they found the ice in three detergent powder bags and two coffee bags. Subsequently they allege they found two more bags of ice in the suspect's room.

The suspects were identified as Saravanam Karuppiah, 36, Abbas Seyed Buhari, 35, Mohamed Mustafa Kuduptheen, 28, and Abdulsalam Maiden Pitchai, 38.

-- The Nation 2010-11-16

[geriatrickid]

Am I the only one that sees the names and believes that there is a link to the Pakistani groups that transport the drugs. Yes, the accused are Indian, but I think they share demographic and political characteristics more in common with the Pakistani and Iranian mules than they do with Indians. In plain language - they are part of the same courier network.

[bubblehead]

Am I the only one that sees the names and believes that there is a link to the Pakistani groups that transport the drugs. Yes, the accused are Indian, but I think they share demographic and political characteristics more in common with the Pakistani and Iranian mules than they do with Indians. In plain language - they are part of the same courier network.

Thanks for your invaluble input

[Bagwan]

Am I the only one that sees the names  and believes that there is a link to the  Pakistani  groups that transport the drugs. Yes, the accused are Indian, but I think they share demographic and political characteristics more in common with the Pakistani and Iranian mules than they do with Indians. In plain language - they are part of the same courier network.

My initial thoughts too but I must own up to hostile feelings to all things Pakistani.

If the drugs were brought from the sub continent for onwards passage to Malaysia why would they take some of the total parcel with them into a busy shopping centre?

[asiawatcher]

Put them down like rabid dogs. The next 30 years in a Thai prison will change their thought processes.

[lloydie]

yeah why go to a shopping centre with it all if u want to take it out the country?

[TAWP]

yeah why go to a shopping centre with it all if u want to take it out the country?

You would leave 30 million baht in a hotel-room in Thailand?

[DP25]

Lucky they weren't caught in Malaysia. Malaysia has a MANDATORY death sentence for drug traffickers