One Thai national and two Lao citizens have been accused of involvement in the shipment of a consignment of heroin that was seized at Hong Kong International Airport last week, according to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
Wichai Chaimongkol, ONCB's secretary-general, said Thai authorities launched an investigation into the shipment after being alerted by their Hong Kong counterparts on April 21.
Hong Kong officials examined the batch and found suspected heroin concealed inside the packaging of 37 packs of coffee powder. The total weight of the heroin was about 53kg.
Mr Wichai said Thai narcotics and customs officials had found that the shipment was linked to a major transborder trafficking ring which is believed to have sent three shipments to Hong Kong in March/April this year.
Thai officials have asked their Hong King counterparts for the details of one Thai and two Lao nationals employed by the private transport company handling the shipment so that arrest warrants can be issued, he said.
The information will also be forwarded to narcotics control authorities in Laos to widen the investigation into the drug trafficking ring, he said.
According to Mr Wichai, the Thai Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF) and Seaport Interdiction Task Force (SITF) have been working closely with Hong Kong authorities and have, since January, confiscated nine shipments containing 74.6kg of crystal meth and 47.5kg of heroin.
Meanwhile, anti-drug authorities in Chiang Rai on Tuesday arrested two men and a woman and seized 239kg of crystal meth and 10kg of ketamine from them.
The arrest followed a tip-off about the smuggling of narcotics from the Chiang Rai border to inner provinces.