SAMUT PRAKAN: An Australian man was arrested beside his Melbourne-bound plane at Suvarnabhumi airport with bags containing a total of 22 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine aka “ice”.
Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said on Monday that Tran Huybao Khang, 28, was arrested beside a Thai Airways International plane serving flight TG461 on Sunday morning.
The arrest was made when authorities brought him to open two bags belonging to him suspected of containing narcotics.
According to Mr Kittipong, a luggage X-ray system at the airport had automatically sent the two bags to a baggage inspection room where officials examine suspicious bags manually. The system picked both bags after detecting unusual masses inside them.
Panthong Loikulnant, advisor to the Customs Department, said that the suspect was likely hired to smuggle the drug for a narcotics gang that waited at the destination of the flight. He said officials would try to find the source of the narcotics.
Officials estimated the Thai market price of the seized “ice” at 6.6 million baht. If it reached Melbourne, its value could soar to the equivalent of 23 million baht.