32kg of Australia-bound heroin seized at Bangkok Port

Drugs with street value of B200 million hidden inside packs of pain-relief patches

Phanthong Loykulnanta, deputy director-general of the Customs Department, displays a small plastic bag of heroin found inside a pack of commercial pain-relief patches at a briefing on Saturday. (Photo: Customs Department)
Phanthong Loykulnanta, deputy director-general of the Customs Department, displays a small plastic bag of heroin found inside a pack of commercial pain-relief patches at a briefing on Saturday. (Photo: Customs Department)

Authorities have seized about 32 kilogrammes of heroin, stuffed inside boxes of pain-relief patches at the Bangkok Port. The drugs were destined for Melbourne, Australia.

Customs officials found the suspicious shipment at the port on Friday evening. The goods, declared as pain-relief patches, were destined for Melbourne. An X-ray showed the suspicious goods turned out to be heroin, which was in small plastic sachets inside the packages containing the patches.

The heroin could fetch about 200 million baht if smuggled to Australia, said Phanthong Loykulnanta, deputy director-general of the Customs Department, during a media briefing on Saturday.

The department, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau intend to jointly extend the investigation to find those involved, he added.

Packs of pain-relief patches containing heroin seized at the Bangkok Port on Friday are shown during a media briefing on Saturday. (Photo: Customs Department)