A court has sentenced a Taiwanese man, a Malaysian man and two Thai women to death for dealing 281 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine three years ago.
The four were Cheng Mi Hsu, 70, of Taiwanese nationality, Wiparat Karndee, a 51-year-old Chiang Mai native, Tun Hun Seong from Malaysia and Walaipan Petchpong, 66, from Chiang Rai.
They were found guilty of conspiring to commit several counts of drug offences, supporting or harbouring drug offenders and having meth and ice for sale under the 1979 and 1991 narcotics laws.
According to the prosecution, the four defendants, as well as Chang Kim Sui and Lim Yean Hooi -- two other defendants earlier convicted by the same court -- and other suspects who remained at large, collaborated in February 2016 to procure, possess, store and deliver drugs for sale to customers on several occasions.
Chang and Lim moved and delivered the drugs by the orders of the four defendants.
Chang and Lim were arrested in late March 2016 with 282 bags of crystal totalling 281kg. The four defendants were later caught on April 19 last year in Songkhla, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and were not allowed bail.
The court sentenced the four to death for having ice for sale. For trying to sell meth, they received a life sentence and a fine of 2 million baht each. For having Type 2 narcotics for sale, they got a 20-year jail term and a fine of 400,000 baht each. For having unregistered guns, they were given a two-year jail term each.
Since Cheng and Wiparat confessed, the penalty was reduced to life in prison and a fine of 1.2 million baht. As Tun and Walaipan pleaded not guilty, the death penalty and the 2.4-million-baht fine remain in place.
Their assets worth 70 million baht had earlier been seized.