Two Brazilian men nabbed in cocaine bust

Two Brazilian men nabbed in cocaine bust

Paulo Henrique Pires Do Nascimento and Elsonias Coleta Da Silva were detained after anti-narcotics agents spotted and recovered 1.3kg of cocaine (left) in Mr Pires' stomach. (Photos by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau)
Paulo Henrique Pires Do Nascimento and Elsonias Coleta Da Silva were detained after anti-narcotics agents spotted and recovered 1.3kg of cocaine (left) in Mr Pires' stomach. (Photos by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau)

Two Brazilian nationals were arrested last week for alleged involvement in attempting to smuggle and distribute 1.3kg of cocaine, worth 6.5 million baht, authorities said Sunday.

The arrests of Paulo Henrique Pires Do Nascimento, 27, and his alleged accomplice, Elsonias Coleta Da Silva, 35, were announced after police said one of the suspects expelled dozens of capsules of cocaine he had swallowed.

Mr Pires was nabbed at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sept 6 while Mr Coleta was arrested at a hotel when he turned up to collect the drugs.

According to authorities, Mr Pires was detained when he was about to collect his luggage after arriving at the airport from Ethiopia on ET617 flight.

The officials received a tip-off that a Brazilian man on board the flight would attempt to smuggle in narcotics.

He was suspected of swallowing packages of cocaine and a following body X-ray revealed dozens of lumps in his stomach. While being interrogated, he admitted to swallowing cocaine before boarding the flight from Ethiopia and said he was supposed to deliver the drugs to a contact at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area.

Police staged a sting operation where they had Mr Pires check in at the hotel as he had planned, while they kept an eye on people he came into contact with.

At one point, Mr Coleta knocked on his hotel room door and handed him some milk.

Police followed Mr Coleta and found he was staying at the hotel. They planned his arrest by setting up the drug hand-over at Mr Pires' room.

Mr Coleta was arrested when he showed up to collect the drugs. However, police say he refused to cooperate in the investigation to arrest other alleged accomplices.

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