Thai anti-narcotics police arrested two foreigners at a rented condominium on Tuesday, and seized 36 kilograms of marihuana ready to be mailed to England.
The arrests took place in the Phra Khanong district of Bangkok, where police found 36 kilograms of dried cannabis and 1.4 kilograms of hashish, along with several documents indicating plans to mail the packages to England.
The police identified the nationalities of the male suspects as British and Dutch.
The arrests follow an investigation, which started on Monday, when officials of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and Customs Department found 210 grams of Ecstasy (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA) in a food container shipped from England.
Secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lukboon in the black suit
Secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lukboon, explained that the suspects would travel to Thailand on tourist visas and make the cannabis connection in the country.
He also said that the suspects usually use international logistics services to export small amounts of cannabis at a time, to avoid detection.
The British Embassy worked with the Narcotics Control Board to investigate this smuggling operation.
Anti-narcotics authorities in Thailand can prosecute foreign drug smugglers inside the country, as it is an offense against the Ministry of Public Health’s regulations on controlled herbs and an offense under the Customs Act.
He admitted, though, that the narcotics control law does not cover investigation of drug makers and dealers outside the country, adding that “The Narcotics control board and customs cooperates with other agencies, under the Airport Interdiction Taskforce (AITF), to keep a close watch on cannabis smuggling out of the country.
The British Embassy in Bangkok issued a warning in August this year against attempts to smuggle cannabis into the UK, where the drug is still strictly controlled, after a large number of people arriving from Thailand, Canada and the United States, where the drug is either fully or partially legalised, were arrested. They emphasised that those convicted of such activities face lengthy prison terms.
