Police on Friday arrested a man from the west African Republic of Guinea at Suvarnabhumi Airport after an x-ray revealed he had 495 grammes of cocaine, worth about 2 million baht in street value, in his stomach.
Paisarn Chuenjit, chief of the Customs Department’s investigative division, said Mamadou Dioulde Diallo, 30, had flown from Ethiopia to Thailand. He was asked to go through security checks because officials thought he was acting suspiciously.
Investigators said Diallo told them that he played for a football club. He agreed to smuggle drugs for a businessman because his mother is sick and his profession does not pay well enough.
Police charged the man with possession of illegal drugs and drug smuggling. He was taken to Narcotics Supression Bureau headquarters for further proceedings.
The article was corrected on 17 Oct. The original story wrongly said Mamadou Dioulde Diallo was a Nigerian national. The Bangkok Post apologises for any inconvenience this report may have caused to all parties concerned.