Thai cops probe Laos drug lord’s ‘celebrity links’
Investigators say elite contacts may have helped shield the narcotics cartel of Laotian Xaysana Keopimpha, dubbed by police as an ‘international drug kingpin’
Thai police swooped on the home of a popular actress as part of a series of Bangkok raids Thursday, in a widening probe into the celebrity and business links of an alleged Laos drug lord.
Investigators say elite contacts may have helped shield the narcotics cartel of Laotian Xaysana Keopimpha, dubbed by police as an “international drug kingpin”, who was nabbed last month in a dramatic arrest at Bangkok’s main airport.
Squads of officers staged more than a dozen raids in the capital Bangkok on Thursday, including on the apartment of TV actress and talk show host Napapa Thantrakul.
She is not currently being treated as a suspect but police believe her husband had accepted several cars from one of Xaysana’s drug couriers, including a Lamborghini.
Thai authorities say 42-year-old Xaysana’s sprawling drug empire funnelled meth produced in Myanmar to Thailand and Malaysia, two top markets for the popular caffeine-laced meth tablets known as “yaba” – a name that translates to crazy medicine.
According to Thai police, Bangkok and its surrounding suburbs offered crucial hideaways and protection for the drug syndicate, with high-end car dealers and celebrities helping to launder Xaysana’s profits.