BANGKOK, Thailand – A Thai woman released by Japanese prosecutors after being detained with crystal methamphetamine hidden inside coffee packets has maintained she had no knowledge of the drugs, Thai narcotics police said. The suspect, identified only as Ms. Thian, was deported back to Thailand following the decision by Japanese authorities not to indict her. She had been arrested in Japan after arriving with the illicit substances in her luggage.
Narcotics Suppression Bureau chief Lieutenant General Archayon Kraithong said she admitted accepting 3,600 baht ($108) from a contact named “Ing Ing” to carry consumer goods but failed to notice the coffee packets had been tampered with and resealed. The investigation has expanded to an international syndicate allegedly led by another Vietnamese national, who is currently blacklisted from entering Thailand. Police said the network operates by recruiting couriers to transport narcotics disguised as commercial products to Japan. Thai authorities are currently working with Japanese law enforcement to identify the recipients in Japan and are preparing to issue arrest warrants for several suspects under transnational organized crime charges. (TNA)
