Samui: Indian pair face Thai drug smuggling charges

[webfact]

Indian pair face Thai drug smuggling charges

BANGKOK, July 26, 2013 (AFP) - Two Indian men have been arrested and charged in Thailand with trafficking crystal methamphetamine worth an estimated $1.4 million, a customs official said Friday.

The suspects were detained Thursday on the holiday island of Samui after flying in from Chennai in southern India via Singapore.

Custom authorities said they had found 12.3 kilos (27 pounds) of methamphetamine hydrochloride, known as "Ice", in their luggage.

Traffickers often try to smuggle drugs though regional airports as security is tight at Bangkok's main air gateway, said Paisal Chuenjit, director of the Customs Department's Investigation and Suppression Bureau.

"I'm sure that part of the drugs were destined for users in Bangkok because Ice is popular among wealthy people," he added.

He said both suspects had confessed that they were hired to bring the drugs to Thailand.

If convicted they could in theory face the death sentence although Thailand has not executed anyone since 2009.

Their arrest came two days after an Indonesian man was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport with crystal methamphetamine worth an estimated $500,000 after arriving from India.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-07-26

[Payboy]

as security is tight at Bangkok's main air gateway, said Paisal Chuenjit, director of the Customs Department's Investigation and Suppression Bureau.

3 words - Carlo Konstantin Kohl.

[Boater]

someone must have informed customs before hand, as i have never seen any type of customs or anything at samui airport..

[nachiket]

I saw in Samrong, lots of people openly trade and consume drugs.

Some day, I was about to report the same to police, but my wife restrict me to do so and advise me to wait and watch the game.

Within 2-3 months, I came to know, they all are involved with each other.

(So, that's why my wife asked me to wait and watch, I suppose.)

[webfact]

Two Indian nationals arrested with 12kg of 'ice'
By English News



BANGKOK, July 26 - Thai customs officials on Friday arrested two Indian nationals at Samui International Airport with 12 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine or ice in their possession.

Deputy Finance Minister Benja Louichareon told a news briefing of the arrest of the two men--Virdi Hardev Singh, 51, and Puran Singh, 41.

The pair arrived at Samui International Airport on a Singapore Airlines flight from Chennai via Singapore.

Mrs Benja said a customs official found the drugs hidden in their baggage. They confessed to the authorities while being questioned that they had been hired to deliver the drugs at Samui. Then another courier was to carry the drugs to Bangkok.

It was their second trip to the island after the first one which they said they had in check before the delivery.

They will be transferred to drug suppression police for further investigation, according to the minister.

The Customs Department's official statistics shows that 73 kilos of ice with a street value of 255 million baht were seized and 25 suspects arrested between Oct 1 last year through July 25 this year. In addition, two suspects were detained with 8,000 kilos of heroin and 65 suspects were apprehended with 260,000 meth pills during the same period. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-07-26

[lee b]

That top package looks like something that feel of an elephant !

[Andre0720]

Out of luck.

1.4 million worth of drugs, and most probably no money to pay a lawyer...

[crazykopite]

Hope they get 20 years !!!!!!!!!

[Skorz]

And I thought my life was a bag of <deleted>, Christ alive, these guys are going to fry.

[limbos]

Hope they get 20 years !!!!!!!!!

These guys are just the carriers, they most likely will get a hefty sentence, but they are the small game. No big guys will go to jail for this. Maybe somebody will 'pay' in a different way for the loss, but not in a jail in Thailand.

[Mr lamai]

Those pretty chaps would surley felt relived when their flight took off from Changi. Getting cought on USM from SIN with bags loaded with drugs was a superbig nono if they were not set up. My saying!

2 Btls of lao khao is always better then a fraction of ilegal drug in SEA.

Cheers

[bangkokheat]

welcome to hell

[hubahuba]

Hope they get 20 years !!!!!!!!!

Better still...Life with no chance of appeal or parole...You deal in death .....then you can rot in jail

[klauskunkel]

Deputy Finance Minister Benja Louichareon told a news briefing of the arrest of the two men--Virdi Hardev Singh, 51, and Puran Singh, 41.

Why is the Deputy Finance Minister telling the press about a drug arrest? I thought that was the job of the Undersecretary Twice Removed of the Inactive Post Department.

[Baerboxer]

Well done for catching two more scum bag drug couriers! No excuses or silly stories - these crooks were in it for the money and couldn't give a <deleted> about the consequences of their actions. So they should be sentenced according to the law.

Let's hope the authorities to start to aprehend and prosecute the bigger fish involved - that includes the Indian police too.

[Mudcrab]

"I'm sure that part of the drugs were destined for users in Bangkok because Ice is popular among wealthy people," he added.

no surprises there

[Maggusoil]

I don't know. These guys are just trying to raise their financial circumstances, with a high risk level.

They would have been told they'd be taken care of. A lot gets through.

Nobody forces anybody else to smoke meth. Idiots want it. That's their business.

Its a taste. Its dangerous. Every body knows. Its prohibited. Everybody knows.

Because alcohol related offences in the USA comes in about 4 in 10 of all crimes and road fatalities, do we lock up the bartenders?

I certainly hope not.

They're just serving us the poison we choose to have.

[Dr Strange]

More likely there is the usual old story here. Police needed a big catch so the smugglers gave them one. And while the flashbulbs were popping and the police slapping each other's backs, a package 5 times the size came in on same flight

[Asianrider]

12 kgs is a lot !! No chance of claiming they didn't know it was in their bags anyway !!!

[Colabamumbai]

someone must have informed customs before hand, as i have never seen any type of customs or anything at samui airport..

Of course. The guy busted at Swampy 3 days ago gave them up.

[wealth]

most of the new designer drugs are developed in India. I always wondered why there are so little arrests of Indians. One reason, they are one of the most corrupt in foreign countries and second they're smart. This might change now.

[Colabamumbai]

Why do people make posts here "I hope they get 25 years", "scumbags" are just some examples. It goes on and on.

[frizbee999]

Really.. I thought all that kind of stuff made in Thailand for Thai market..

[Dr Strange]

Really.. I thought all that kind of stuff made in Thailand for Thai market..

Actually mainly made up in the old Golden Triangle area or in Myanmar and Laos

[Dukeleto]

They have to be nuts bring that through singapore! If they had been bust there it would have been the death sentence for sure.

[wealth]

Actually I wanted to post that here and by mistake I posted it on a relevant thread.

Designer drugs http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/656395-viral-ad-of-young-thai-star-taking-meth-turns-out-to-be-real/?p=6652454

[dluek]

In addition, two suspects were detained with 8,000 kilos of heroin

That's a mind-boggling amount of Hbomb. Whoever those two suspects are, they're really gonna fry.

[Pui]

"I'm sure that part of the drugs were destined for users in Bangkok because Ice is popular among wealthy people," he added.

no surprises there

It surprised me, I thought that methamphetamine was the poor man's coke.

If this statement is true, It must the only place in the world where meth is popular with wealthy people.

[Pui]

Why do people make posts here "I hope they get 25 years", "scumbags" are just some examples. It goes on and on.

Yes I agree, there is even a name for it "Hang'em high" comments. Its pretty boring and mindless.

From the look of the 2 gentlemen caught, they don't look as though they have 2 pennies to rub together.

People can be under the most enormous pressure to commit these crimes by gangsters that have leverage over family members etc.

Its a sad unfortunate situation. They will likely go to jail but it will not stop drugs coming in. Apparently this particular drug normally comes across from Burma.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Pui

[MaxYakov]

They have to be nuts bring that through singapore! If they had been bust there it would have been the death sentence for sure.

Apparently not. If there was not a plane change, how would Singapore customs have searched the luggage? If there had been a plane change and the luggage had been transferred to another airplane, would it have been searched since it wasn't entering Singapore? Thai women have told me many times: "You think too much" or "You too serious" - does anyone else get this from Thai women?

Edited July 26, 2013 by MaxYakov