Hong Kong police pressed to track mastermind in drug case that led to Bangkok arrest of trio
Fate of three arrested for cocaine rests on whether Thai authorities will initiate joint efforts amid red tape
Police are under pressure to track down a woman known as “Ming”, believed to be the mastermind in a drug-trafficking case that has led to the arrest of three Hongkongers in Thailand.
The trio, who were found with 12.3kg of cocaine in their luggage at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, on June 5, now face life imprisonment.
“If we just catch these small potatoes without capturing the masterminds, similar cases will happen again and again,” said Sirichai Piyaphichetkul, the lawyer for Yau Kit-long, 24.
The other two, Fong Yee-ting, 19, and Tung Wing-yan, 22, were still looking for lawyers to represent them, according to legislator James To Kun-sun, who said he had appealed to Hong Kong police and the Chinese embassy in Thailand for help.
They were said to have been given HK$8,000 each by Ming to carry suitcases containing wood carvings, which had drugs hidden in secret compartments, from Brazil to her in a Bangkok hotel.
To said Thai authorities told him they did not manage to detain Ming before she fled to Hong Kong on the same day the three were caught.
