Australian Woman Eludes Police For 10 Years

[sriracha john]

Bailed Australian 'smuggler' drops off police radar

TEN years after she jumped bail while facing drug-smuggling charges in Thailand, one of Australia's most wanted fugitives, Lisa Marie Smith, may finally have escaped the law.

Police in Australia and Britain have admitted they have exhausted their inquiries into the 31-year-old, while Thai police privately say they have had no success with their investigation.

Ms Smith, in August 1996, failed to appear in a Bangkok court after her millionaire father, Terry Smith, then the chief executive of the National Mutual insurance company in Hong Kong, paid $75,000 to secure her release on bail.

The first foreigner facing drug-smuggling charges to be granted bail, Ms Smith had been arrested at Bangkok airport in February 1996 and accused of smuggling almost 4kg of cannabis and more than 500 amphetamine tablets.

She briefly spent time in a Bangkok prison and fled the country despite the Australian Government agreeing to negotiate a royal pardon that would have seen her serve less than two years in Thai custody.

Ron Hay, a detective with the British Metropolitan Police Extradition and International Assistance unit, said no progress had been made on the case since 2002, when police made an ultimately fruitless television appeal for information.

"The case is not active, but it's never closed. At the end of the day, there is a request in (for her extradition to Thailand) so we have to honour that request, but no one is actively out there looking for her," he said.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said British police had "exhausted their inquiries" and were satisfied Ms Smith was not in the country.

Shortly after fleeing Thailand, Ms Smith appeared in Greece and, as a dual British and Australian citizen, applied for and was granted new passports by both countries - in September and November, 1996.

Both these documents have now expired and police say they have not been notified of any attempt to renew them.

Australian government sources said Ms Smith was likely to be living under a false identity.

The Australian Federal Police said they did not believe Melbourne-born Ms Smith was in Australia and no officers were actively working on the case.

"We're not involved in it at all," an AFP spokesman said. The most recent known involvement by the AFP in the case was in 2001, when they were passed a letter supposedly written by Ms Smith that suggested she was living in Western Australia.

The letter was one of three linked to Ms Smith and sent to either newspapers or police over the past decade, each of which has failed to provide investigators with any concrete leads.

Thai police have also been unable to locate Ms Smith, despite Interpol issuing an international "red notice" to request her arrest and extradition.

Thai Royal Police foreign affairs division colonel Pornpasert Kanchanarint said the case was not closed, but he was unable to say how many officers were working on it.

This contrasts with the bravado shown in February 1997, when Thai police general Watcharapol Prasarnajkit, a commander with the narcotics division, boasted: "I'm quite sure that she will be arrested. I am sure we will get her."

When contacted by The Australian, General Watcharapol said he was no longer on the case.

- news.com.au

[sriracha john]

Additional excerpts from:

Search for accused smuggler 'exhausted'

Ms Smith was arrested in Bangkok airport in February 1996 as she was about to board a flight to Tokyo.

She was accused of smuggling 4kg of cannabis resin and 565 amphetamine tablets.

Ms Smith, whose father Terry Smith was then chief executive of National Mutual Asia in Hong Kong, fled Thailand after bail of 1.5 million baht ($A75,000) was posted.

News reports in 2001 claimed Ms Smith had slipped into Australia after five years on the run.

The reports said she had married a British citizen and was living in Perth under the name of Lisa Marie McGuigan.

- AAP

[terry57]

off course the aussie's know where she is and she most probly lives just down the street from me in perth.

i remember seeing a television interview with her a few years ago.

the old mans filthy rich and has payed everybody off.

truly pathetic and they should send her back to spend time in the big tiger.

[Little Black Duck]

off course the aussie's know where she is and she most probly lives just down the street from me in perth.

i remember seeing a television interview with her a few years ago.

the old mans filthy rich and has payed everybody off.

truly pathetic and they should send her back to spend time in the big tiger.

AS an OZ I agree with you Terry,,Do the Crime Do the time..

Gives us good Aussies a Bad Name..

[London Crocodile]

Good luck to the Sheila.

[Sing_Sling]

Was she ever found guilty?

If not then running away from a Thai justice system and potential Thai jail is not so illogical, is it?!

In a country as corrupt as Thailand would you willingly stand trial and put your life in the hands of the corrupt judiciary, let alone the life of your child?

If I could afford for my girl to get the heck out of Dodge if were in the same sort of trouble I would do it in a heartbeat.

[GuestHouse]

It would not take a genius to figure out that her father knows where she is and is almost certainly in regular contact with her.

But then we are talking Australia so 'case not solved'.

[jingjoe]

Yeah it's not like you'd have done the same if the opportunity arose Terry, right?

[t.s]

I think 75,000 AUD is a pretty fair price for a get out of jail card. Power to her.

[lingyai]

Does Thailand have bounty hunters? Can one get a reward for finding people who have fled?

They should put up half the bail money as reward. Then again maybe the father paid some people here to make sure they didn't press other nations to hard to find her.

Interesting case, any pictures with this?

[davidjtayler]

Its rumoured that she is still traveling in Thailand using the name Terry Hasipjet ....

[Pink Mist]

Does Thailand have bounty hunters? Can one get a reward for finding people who have fled?

They should put up half the bail money as reward. Then again maybe the father paid some people here to make sure they didn't press other nations to hard to find her.

Interesting case, any pictures with this?

[London Crocodile]

Its rumoured that she is still traveling in Thailand using the name Terry Hasipjet ....

[qualtrough]

What goes around comes around. The Oz authorities may some day be looking for a Thai fugitive, and incidents like this will surely not increase the odds of any cooperation...

[austallia_1980]

i doubt the daughter of a filthy rich man was smuggling drugs with intent to sell. She is probably a real jerk/spoiled brat, but if they managed to get off some drugs charges, I tip my hat to them. God knows you would do the same if it was your child. No reason to be jealous.

[mosquitoman]

Seems to me that alot of these minor (body packing, false bottomed suitcases etc ) drug smugglers come from well to do families, I suspect money is not there main motivation.

I think they probably do it for the adrenalin, or because they think it is cool, or may be to rebell against there parents.

Who Knows?

MM

[terry57]

cricky punters,

i got some top reactions on that one did'nt i.

cheers to all my top bleeding cracking mates on thai visa.

especially dave T, londen crocodile, mr G, and my new best mate little black duck.

there all a bunch of top blokes and sorry sing sling i nearly forgot you, even though you did give me a bit of a flogging.

chow

[London Crocodile]

chow

Ciao

[LaoPo]

Interpol 'WANTED' link:

SMITH, LISA MARIE

http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted...2/1996_6782.asp

LaoPo

Edited November 27, 2006 by LaoPo

[Khutan]

Google shows some pictures, but they may not be her

[HenryB]

Google shows some pictures, but they may not be her

I heard from my Thai Wife she is married to a TUK TUK Driver in Puckett.

[LaoPo]

Google shows some pictures, but they may not be her

I heard from my Thai Wife she is married to a TUK TUK Driver in Puckett.

Yeah, and her filthy rich father is now collecting Kangaroo droppings...

LaoPo

[HenryB]

Google shows some pictures, but they may not be her

I heard from my Thai Wife she is married to a TUK TUK Driver in Puckett.

Yeah, and her filthy rich father is now collecting Kangaroo droppings...

LaoPo

Really Thanks for telling us about the father. I am glad my wife was right about her.

[sriracha john]

Interpol 'WANTED' link:

SMITH, LISA MARIE

http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted...2/1996_6782.asp

LaoPo

good find, LaoPo

[alexth]

Smart girl. Any of us would so the same if facing a thai prison detention.

[LaoPo]

Interpol 'WANTED' link:

SMITH, LISA MARIE

http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted...2/1996_6782.asp

LaoPo

good find, LaoPo

but I don't know where she is...and if I knew I would have a nice chat with her rich father.... ...or else....

LaoPo

Edited November 28, 2006 by LaoPo

[Dakhar]

She was actually John Kars mistress, they live together teaching English in BKK.

[Oleg_Rus]

Good father, naughty girl.

Everybody envy.

btw 4kg of canabis and 5xx pcs of vitamin E - is pretty small pack - just for a short party with friens for a week or so, esp in Tokyo. Girl just wanted to have fun, its like travelling around with 2 bottles of Absinth ( 45$ per 0.75l )

[Scott]

The moral to this story is:

1. It is not only Thai people who get bail for major crimes.

2. It is not only Thai people who skip bail.

3. It is not only Thai people who allude the authorities.

4. Australians are much smarter than most people give them credit for!

[tropo]

AS an OZ I agree with you Terry,,Do the Crime Do the time..

Gives us good Aussies a Bad Name..

That's a load of nonsense. If you are doing crime, it's part of your job to escape the law.

The expression is not as you say, "do the crime, do the time", it's "don't do the crime if you can't do the time". In this case, the lady doesn't need to do time as she's been smart enough to escape.

Your attitude is distinctly un-Australian. There are so many famous criminals that became Australian legends.