Six Vietnamese arrested as police probe meth smuggled in tamarind jars to Japan
Six Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Thailand as police probed a case of meth being sealed in tamarind jars and sent to Japan.
Officers raided four locations in Bangkok as they cracked down on a suspected Vietnamese drug trafficking syndicate that allegedly recruited couriers to smuggle narcotics abroad.
Five Vietnamese models and their recruiter were detained at a property in the Bang Kapi district on July 21.
They were identified as Ha Thi, 28, Tran Thi, 18, Le Nguyen, 18, Lo Thi, 19, and Luong Le, 18, all women, and a Vietnamese man, Do Nhu Ngoc, 28.
The women denied being involved in the smuggling network, but allegedly confessed to using drugs. They tested positive for illegal drugs and were charged with unlawful consumption of a Category I narcotic.
Do Nhu Ngoc claimed to be a modelling agent who recruited the girls for entertainment jobs in Thailand. He was charged with unlawful possession of a Category I narcotic.
Police said the property was where delivery riders picked up the meth parcels.
The investigation followed a report from courier Patcharanan Boromkasemsuk, 43, on July 13, who said she was hired by a Facebook user to ship a package of snacks, seasonings, sweets, and herbal inhalers to Tokyo.
While packing for her flight, Patcharanan said she noticed that the tamarind jars were unusually heavy. She opened them and discovered a white substance wrapped in plastic beneath the dense layers of brown tamarind paste.
Fearing it contained drugs, she reportedly decided to travel to Japan without taking the package, before alerting the police upon returning to Thailand. The crystalline substance was later confirmed to be methamphetamine weighing 2 kilogrammes in total.
The drugs were reportedly destined for Tokyo, where Thai nationals allegedly collected the parcels before passing them through multiple intermediaries.
Thai police said they were coordinating with Japanese agencies to identify the source of the drugs.
Authorities have arrested a Thai man Sompong Kaewphadee, 50, who allegedly lent his bank accounts to receive drug payments for the network.
Police Major General Theeradej Thamsuthee, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said cops are hunting Sompong's girlfriend Mali, believed to be involved in the drug trafficking operations.
He said: 'This syndicate attempted to use courier services to deceive authorities by concealing narcotics among agricultural products and dried food.
‘We urge anyone accepting jobs to transport items overseas to inspect the contents carefully and refuse the job if they notice anything unusual or if the weight appears inconsistent.
‘Those who allow others to use, or lend, their personal documents to open bank accounts risk becoming part of a transnational criminal organisation and will face legal prosecution.'
The group allegedly recruited couriers similar to the case of glamorous Thai flight attendant Mina Kondo, who was arrested in Australia with narcotics hidden in tote bags.
The tall brunette, who had previously won beauty pageants, was charged with importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug and possessing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment.
She was remanded in custody on June 26 and is scheduled to reappear before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on September 14.
Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug production and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.
Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.
