PUBLISHED: 11 Mar 2024 at 17 :01.
The Office of Narcotics Control Board ( ONCB) announced on Monday that three members of a Western African drug network have been detained in connection with the influx of more than five kilograms of cocaine from the US into the country on March 6.
The three offenders, whose names were unknown, were detained on March 7 at Suvarnabhumi Airport as they waited to pick up clothes containers imported from the US, where 5.4 kilograms of cocaine were later discovered to be hidden in.  ,
The Airport Interdiction Task Force ( AITF), the ONCB, the Narcotics Suppression Division 3, the Customs Department, and the ONCB jointly conducted the arrest.
The defendants were members of a Western African medicine group that had been involved in prostitution and other acts on Soi Nana Road in Bangkok, according to ONCB secretary-general Pol Lt Gen Panurat Lakboon  on Monday.
The ONCB launched its drug-smuggling operation on Soi Nana, codenamed” Nana Oun Jai ( Safety Nana ), one month ago, following the arrest.
Prin Mekanandha, the ONCB’s Narcotics Law Enforcement Bureau chairman, said in a statement that Pol Lt Gen Panurat was looking into a connection between Eastern African drug gangs and drug-related acts committed on Soi Nana as part of the procedure. The commission received information earlier about the connection.  ,
The crew was caught selling illegal drugs in Soi Nana’s entertainment venues, according to the research. Additionally, it was believed that the crew was involved in various crimes, including human trafficking.
Authorities then conducted a raid on the three defendants ‘ house in the Samae Dam neighborhood of Bang Khunthian area, where they found the tools used for medicine shipping and smuggling, including vinyl bags and digital scales, during the procedure.
The three international suspects have been linked to the Western African gang’s export of drugs to Thailand since 2020, according to the ONCB. They are connected to at least four trafficking incidents involving a Thai person and seven other international citizens in which 12.7 kg of methamphetamine and 6 613 ecstasy pills were taken.  ,
According to Pol Lt Gen Panurat, the ONCB will collaborate with the US Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) to expand the scope of the investigation into the Western African gang.
According to Pol Lt Gen Panurat, the AITF successfully detained 49 suspects from 41 opioid drug-related cases last season, an increase from 32 offenders from 32 similar circumstances detained in 2022.