PHUKET: A Thai woman who covered her head through a media presentation last night said she did not know that she was carrying ya ice with a street value of 10.5 million baht on a flight to Phuket International Airport.
Ratchanee Chidnaporn, 39, was arrested when Customs officers detected 3.2 kilos of the methamphetamine following a positive scan on luggage after a flight from Doha arrived on Phuket yesterday afternoon.
Phuket International Airport Director of Customs Montira Cherchoo warned drug smugglers who may see Phuket as a ''soft'' entry point that Phuket authorities were adept at spotting suspicious passengers and intent on capturing couriers.
''If Khun Ratchanee had not been arrested, she planned to catch a taxi from Phuket airport to Phuket bus station,'' Director Montira said. ''Then she planned to catch a bus to Bangkok.''
A national and international alert was out for the woman's contacts in Bangkok and South Africa, the Customs chief said.
After her apprehension and discovery of the hidden drugs, Khun Ratchanee told Phuket airport authorities that she flew to Johannesburg in South Africa on August 6 at the invitation of a Thai man she had known for five months.
Her passport was issued on August 2, officials said.
The man in South Africa paid the fares and took care of accommodation. When the time came for Khun Ratchanee to return he said: ''Please can you take this bag for me to Thailand.''
Her flight from South Africa via Doha brought a random check on Phuket that detected drugs despite efforts to screen the hoard behind wood.
Khun Ratchanee said she was not paid for carrying the drugs and did not know there were drugs in her luggage.
''We know that smugglers are now worried by enhanced safeguards at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok,'' Phuket Customs chief Montira said. ''But Phuket is no pushover.
''We cannot check every passenger thoroughly because that would have consequences for Phuket tourism.
''But we are very active and well-trained and on the lookout for suspicious types, especially those flying in from Africa and South America.
''We aim to catch everyone who tries to smuggle drugs into Thailand through Phuket.''
Phuket's Customs officials won praise from US Drug Enforcement Administration agents for making Asia's first seizure of difficult-to-detect ''black'' cocaine in May.
Phuket Customs Make Another Big Drugs Haul at AirportRatchanee Chidnaporn, 39, was arrested when Customs officers detected 3.2 kilos of the methamphetamine following a positive scan on luggage after a flight from Doha arrived on Phuket yesterday afternoon.
Phuket International Airport Director of Customs Montira Cherchoo warned drug smugglers who may see Phuket as a ''soft'' entry point that Phuket authorities were adept at spotting suspicious passengers and intent on capturing couriers.
''If Khun Ratchanee had not been arrested, she planned to catch a taxi from Phuket airport to Phuket bus station,'' Director Montira said. ''Then she planned to catch a bus to Bangkok.''
A national and international alert was out for the woman's contacts in Bangkok and South Africa, the Customs chief said.
After her apprehension and discovery of the hidden drugs, Khun Ratchanee told Phuket airport authorities that she flew to Johannesburg in South Africa on August 6 at the invitation of a Thai man she had known for five months.
Her passport was issued on August 2, officials said.
The man in South Africa paid the fares and took care of accommodation. When the time came for Khun Ratchanee to return he said: ''Please can you take this bag for me to Thailand.''
Her flight from South Africa via Doha brought a random check on Phuket that detected drugs despite efforts to screen the hoard behind wood.
Khun Ratchanee said she was not paid for carrying the drugs and did not know there were drugs in her luggage.
''We know that smugglers are now worried by enhanced safeguards at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok,'' Phuket Customs chief Montira said. ''But Phuket is no pushover.
''We cannot check every passenger thoroughly because that would have consequences for Phuket tourism.
''But we are very active and well-trained and on the lookout for suspicious types, especially those flying in from Africa and South America.
''We aim to catch everyone who tries to smuggle drugs into Thailand through Phuket.''
Phuket's Customs officials won praise from US Drug Enforcement Administration agents for making Asia's first seizure of difficult-to-detect ''black'' cocaine in May.
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How can believe? After flying for 20 hours from South Africa to Phuket, " she planned to catch a taxi from Phuket airport to Phuket bus station, than she planned to catch a bus to BKK. " The question is, why didn't she fly directly to BKK from South Africa, instead landing to Phuket?
Posted by Mario on August 14, 2011 09:29