Thailand arrests Chinese couple for trying to mail heroin to Australia
- Jun Dai and Jiali Xie held over parcel containing 4.19kg of heroin concealed in between plastic boards that were used to make boxes of bottle openers
- The pair, charged with possession and attempting to smuggle a category 1 drug out of Thailand, deny knowledge the parcel contained heroin
Police in central Thailand this week arrested a Chinese couple for trying to smuggle 4.19kg of heroin through a mail package to Australia.
Officers from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) on Tuesday held Jun Dai and Jiali Xie in front of a chicken rice shop in Sam Phran district of Nakhon Pathom province following a tip-off.
NSB chief Sarayuth Sanguanpokhai said the suspects were charged with possession and attempting to smuggle a category 1 drug out of the country.
Sarayuth added officials rounded up the pair after the customs department at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport detected a suspicious parcel in which the contraband was concealed in between plastic boards that were used to make boxes of bottle openers.
The suspects said they were hired to send the consignment from an office in Pattaya and denied knowledge that it contained heroin.
Police also raided their home and impounded assets worth 9.3 million baht (US$257,200), including gold and six condominium rooms in Bangkok and Pattaya.
An investigation was launched to ascertain whether the riches were bought using the ill-gotten gains of drug trafficking.