ONCB crackdown: Hong Kong men nabbed with smuggled heroin in Bangkok condo
Officers from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) arrested two men from Hong Kong at their condominium in the Rama 9 neighbourhood in Bangkok after finding two smuggled heroin packages addressed to their home country.
The collaborative efforts of Thai and Hong Kong authorities have recorded remarkable success since they embarked on a mission earlier this month to unravel the crooked web of drug smuggling via delivery parcels. The operation led to the arrest of several suspects and the seizure of over 11 kilogrammes of heroin.
The latest operation was reported by the ONCB of Thailand yesterday. After tracking the trail of the illicit drug parcels all the way to Hong Kong, two suspicious foreigners immediately came to the attention of the ONCB.
To substantiate their suspicions, officers embarked on a thorough exploration to locate their accommodation and closely monitored them. Officers later found that the two resided in a Rama 9 condo and turned it into an office to pack their drug parcels.
According to the police report, the heroin was hidden inside golden lion plaster dolls and delivered to Hong Kong using fake passports. This was linked to another case where police confiscated drugs hidden in similar golden lion dolls.
Officers conducted the arrest on Tuesday, August 15. The pair were monitored from outside the condo until they left the premises to pick up a delivery, which included equipment and materials to craft the lion plaster dolls, including plaster moulds and bottles of gold spray. Police made themselves known to the suspects and conducted a raid in their room.
Four kilogrammes of heroin were discovered in the room together with equipment to create the golden dolls.
As per the police reports, the pair had smuggled heroin into Hong Kong on over 20 occasions. Law enforcement officers suspect the existence of additional members within this drug trafficking syndicate and intend to carry out further investigations to apprehend all involved.
