SAMUT PRAKAN — An international drug trafficker from Singapore hiding in Thailand, was arrested by Thai officers in cooperation with Singaporean authorities who traveled to Thailand to assist in the investigation.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Panurat Lhakboon, Secretary General of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), together with Mr. Parin Mekhanan, Director of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau gave details of this case at a press conference on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Panurat told that the arrest stemmed from a tip-off from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in Singapore on August 12, 2024. The CNB reported that Benny Kee Soon Chuan, a high-level international drug trafficker wanted by the Singaporean government, had fled a Singaporean arrest warrant and was in Thailand.
The suspect played an important role in drug trafficking and used Thailand as a transit hub for shipping drugs such as ice, ketamine and ecstasy in international parcels, mainly to Singapore and Australia.
The ONCB counter-narcotics team tracked the suspect to a residence in Bangkaew, Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan Province. Benny was living there without legitimate employment but had an unusually affluent lifestyle. The ONCB worked with the Immigration Police and the CNB sent officers to Thailand to assist with the investigation and arrest.
The ONCB informed the Immigration Police that Benny was an undesirable person as he was involved in drug-related activities that jeopardized national security. His visa was revoked and he was arrested at his home in Samut Prakan on September 17.
Further investigation revealed that Benny was involved in two other cases. The first occurred on March 26, 2021, when the Thai AITF Task Force seized packages of ice, ecstasy and ketamine destined for Singapore. The sender was identified as Teo Zhi Jie, a Singaporean, who was arrested on June 3, 2021. Teo was found to be linked to Benny and two other individuals believed to be part of the same drug trafficking network.
The second case took place on 10 November 2021, when AITF intercepted packages containing ice bound for Australia. Investigations traced the sender to Mr. Wee Ping Adrian Peh, another Singaporean, who was arrested on March 2, 2022 in Samut Prakan while dealing with Immigration authorities. Wee was also connected to Benny’s network.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Panurat emphasized that drug trafficking networks are spreading nationwide and using Thailand as a transit hub for shipments to third countries by air and sea as well as for international parcels.
The ONCB works continuously with the CNB and the Singapore Immigration Police and has coordinated closely with international agencies such as those in Singapore, Vietnam, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and others to investigate and dismantle cross-border crime networks.
The ONCB will extradite Benny to Singapore where he will face trial. Singapore is known for having some of the strictest anti-drug laws in the world. Drug offenses in Singapore are punishable by death.
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