Bangkok police smash Vietnamese ice smuggling gang
Police have dismantled a Vietnamese-led drug trafficking network accused of hiding crystal methamphetamine, known as ice, inside jars of tamarind paste destined for Tokyo, Japan.
The Metropolitan Police Bureau and investigators from Bang Yi Khan Police Station announced the arrest yesterday, July 17, following the interrogation of a suspect identified only as Sompong.
The case began on July 13, when a courier hired to carry items abroad brought a jar of tamarind paste to the police after noticing it was unusually heavy and contained a suspicious object. Tests confirmed the substance was ice, weighing more than 2 kilogrammes and hidden in six foil-wrapped parcels.
Investigators said the method resembled an earlier case involving Meena, a flight attendant detained by Australian authorities, though police have not released further details linking the two cases.
The investigation traced the operation to a Vietnamese crime network directed from Hanoi through a fake Facebook account. Riders were hired to collect packages from a Vietnamese group’s residence in Thailand before handing them to Thai couriers.
Police found the account used to pay wages and expenses belonged to Sompong. Vietnamese nationals reportedly took turns withdrawing cash in amounts of 20,000 to 50,000 baht (US$595 to US$1,488) each time, then immediately returned to Vietnam to avoid arrest.
Police believe more than four people are involved and have issued warrants for four suspects, Sompong and three Vietnamese nationals who handled the withdrawals, ran the Facebook account and gave orders.
The Thai suspect’s girlfriend has not been named in the warrants, but is believed to have known about the operation. Police are expanding the investigation to include her. Sompong has denied the allegations.
Of the three Vietnamese suspects, one has already left Thailand. Police have asked the Immigration Bureau to closely monitor the movements of the remaining two.
The gang reportedly changed tactics regularly to avoid detection, at times concealing drugs inside food products or seasoning powder by slitting packaging and resealing it. Couriers were paid 450 baht per kilogramme, described as a standard rate for such smuggling runs.
Officers said the drugs were destined for Tokyo, where Thai contacts would collect the shipment from couriers before passing it along a chain.
Police have contacted the Japanese embassy for assistance and are investigating where the Vietnamese gang sourced the ice, as well as tracing financial transactions amid suspicion the network may be involved in other illegal activity, reported Amarin TV.
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