Police yesterday, September 30, arrested a British man at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok after finding one kilogramme of crystal methamphetamine in his possession.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Division 5 and Lumpini Police Station received a tip-off about a foreign drug trafficker. The information suggested that the suspect stored the crystal meth in a pink suitcase and would be checking into a hotel on Soi Sukhumvit 11.
Police questioned hotel staff and reviewed CCTV footage until they identified a foreigner matching the description. He had checked into room 412 on the fourth floor of the hotel.
Fearing that the drugs might be moved, destroyed or tampered with, officers raided the room without obtaining a court-issued arrest warrant.
Inside, police encountered the suspect, later identified as 23 year old Briton Wilson. They found a suitcase packed with one kilogramme of crystal meth, concealed inside ten green tea packets under a Chinese brand label.
When questioned, Wilson admitted the drugs were his. He further confessed that he had received the crystal meth from another British national, known as Snoopy, and was paid 20,000 baht to store it before passing it on to customers.
Wilson was charged with possession of a Category 1 narcotic with intent to sell, an offence carrying a prison sentence of two to 20 years and a fine ranging from 200,000 to 2 million baht.
He was taken, along with the seized evidence, to the Division 5 Investigation Unit to have the arrest formally recorded before being handed over to Lumpini Police Station investigators for further legal proceedings.
In a separate case in Kanchanaburi province, police and soldiers set up a checkpoint following a tip-off about cross-border drug trafficking.
They stopped a suspicious white Toyota Alphard minivan after the driver reportedly displayed nervous behaviour. A thorough search uncovered narcotics worth more than 60 million baht hidden in a modified compartment within the vehicle.
The driver claimed he had been paid 3,500 baht to transport the drugs. Further investigations are underway to identify and arrest additional suspects involved in the operation.
The story British man arrested in Bangkok hotel with 1 kilogramme of crystal meth as seen on Thaiger News.
