Nigerian man arrested for smuggling 1.4 kg of cocaine

The Thai Customs Department arrested a Nigerian man at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Saturday for smuggling 1.4 kilogrammes of cocaine into Thailand. The Nigerian swallowed 69 capsules of the drug.

Thai Customs yesterday, March 25, reported a significant development. Working alongside the Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF) at Suvarnabhumi Airport, they identified a Nigerian man whose name appeared on both the arrival list and the roster of passengers deemed at risk of criminal activity.

Although the identity of the individual remains undisclosed, officials disclosed that he had arrived from Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Authorities closely monitored the man due to his suspicious behaviour, ultimately segregating him from other passengers for a thorough investigation.

They discovered about 1.4 kilogrammes of cocaine in the Nigerian man’s system. The drugs were packaged in 69 capsules, which the man swallowed. The drugs were worth over 4.1 million baht.

The foreign was transferred to the Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station for further legal proceedings. Thai Customs reported that the Nigerian man violated the Customs Act and Narcotics Act including:

• Section 242, 244, and 252 of the Customs Act: importing or exporting prohibited goods, and these goods have not been passed through customs processes or without permission.
• Section 52 and 142 of the Narcotics Act: producing, importing, or exporting drug under the Category 2.

The department also added that they had arrested 74 drug smugglers between October 1 of last year and March 25 of this year and seized drugs worth over 412 million baht.

Several raids on drug dealers and smugglers were reported this month. On March 4, Thai police arrested a British backpacker for selling ecstasy and LSD to foreign tourists on Koh Tao, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani.

Officers at Suvanrabhumi Airport previously reported the arrest of three foreign drug smugglers on March 11, and 5,360 grammes of cocaine was seized during the operation.

A British man was arrested in the northern province of Chiang Mai on March 13 for selling cocaine, ketamine, magic mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA to foreigners in the area. Another British drug dealer was apprehended in Phuket on March 3 for selling cocaine.