BANGKOK – The Secretary General of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanurat Lakboon, led a press conference on March 11, 2024, to suppress transnational criminal networks, arresting three Nigerian men and seizing 5,360 grammes of cocaine from the United States. The drugs were destined for sale in entertainment venues.
The seizure was made by the Customs Department’s Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF), which inspected an international parcel (inbound) containing 5,360 grammes of cocaine hidden inside the central core of 5 steel clothes drying racks. The parcel was sent from the United States and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on March 6.
The investigation stemmed from the “Nana Un-Jai” operation in the Nana area of Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. The ONCB and partner agencies found that groups of West Africans were selling drugs to Thai and foreign tourists in the area. The drug trade was often linked to prostitution, with prostitutes receiving a share of the profits from drug sales from the West African groups.
Following the seizure, the task force expanded its investigation and placed surveillance on the parcel delivery location. Three Nigerians were arrested while waiting to receive the parcel containing the 5,360 grammes of cocaine.
A subsequent raid on a room in the Samae Dam sub-district of Bang Khun Thian district, Bangkok, found equipment used to hide drugs, including plastic bags for packaging and a digital scale.
The ONCB secretary-general said that the investigation assumes that the network prepared the sale of the drugs in entertainment venues. The investigation also revealed that the three suspects were involved in a network that has been sending drugs in packages between countries since 2020. They were linked to 4 previous drug seizures in which 8 people (7 African men and 1 Thai woman) were arrested and 12.7 kilograms of cocaine and 6,613 ecstasy pills were seized.
According to statistics from the Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF) and Seaport Interdiction Task Force (SITF) cooperation project, West African networks were involved in more than half of the arrests/seizures in 2022-2023. Most of the drugs seized were cocaine from South America.
- 2023: 26 cases, 32 suspects, 59.215 grams of cocaine, 15.157 grams of ice, 4.054 grams of heroin (13 cases involving West African networks, 13 suspects, 23.09 grams of cocaine)
- 2024: 41 cases, 49 suspects, 184.91 kg of heroin, 166.744 kg of ice, 48.439 kg of cocaine, 73.345 kg of ketamine, 3,598 ecstasy pills, 12 methamphetamine pills (20 cases involving West African networks, 24 suspects, 35.959 kg of cocaine, 8.97 kg of heroin)
The ONCB will coordinate with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to investigate and expand the network of suspects. Finally, the ONCB would like to warn Thai women not to be enticed by foreign men into becoming involved in drug trafficking or receiving packages of drugs.
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