BANGKOK: Thai police arrested a 26-year-old Hong Kong man and seized about 350 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” with an estimated export value of 700 million baht at a house in the Min Buri district on Monday night, authorities announced Tuesday.
Officers from the Crime Suppression Division, led by Police Major General Phatthanasak Bupphasuwan, together with Narcotics Suppression Bureau Division 1, raided the house on Soi Romklao 11 in the Saen Saep subdistrict after intelligence indicated a Hong Kong-linked network was using Thailand as a staging point to conceal and export the drugs.
Inside they found the suspect, identified as Wang Yi-kwan, living alone. The methamphetamine was stored in three plastic drums and prepared for further packaging and concealment for shipment overseas. Police also recovered packaging materials including plastic bags, cardboard boxes, digital scales, a blender, a vacuum sealer, suitcases, plastic basins, and crates.
Wang told investigators it was his first trip to Thailand. He entered on the 14th of September on a tourist visa after flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A network already operating in Thailand arranged the house and delivered the drugs for him to pack while he waited for further instructions. He said he was paid 20,000 Hong Kong dollars for the work.
He has been transferred to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau as police expand the investigation to identify those who directed the operation. The seizure is among a series of large ice intercepts in and around Bangkok in recent weeks as authorities target transnational trafficking routes that use Thailand as a transit hub.