Updated
Updated · Bangkok Post · Jul 2
Australian Police Identify 'Dear' in 1.8-Kg Heroin Plot, Hunt Bangkok Delivery Driver
Updated
Updated · Bangkok Post · Jul 2

Australian Police Identify 'Dear' in 1.8-Kg Heroin Plot, Hunt Bangkok Delivery Driver

3 articles · Updated · Bangkok Post · Jul 2

Summary

  • Australian police told Thai investigators the 1.8-kilogram heroin shipment seized from a 26-year-old Thai flight attendant was meant for a woman nicknamed “Dear” at a Melbourne hotel.
  • Thai authorities are tracing how the drugs reached the attendant’s Bangkok condominium on June 22, reviewing CCTV and checking whether the man who dropped off the parcel really worked for Grab.
  • Investigators say the attendant agreed in an online chat with a user called “Rose Rose” to carry 12 elephant-print tote bags to Australia for 8,800 baht; Meta and the US DEA are helping identify the deleted account.
  • Thai officials say the heroin originated outside Thailand and was repackaged there for onward shipment, while the attendant remains in custody in Melbourne facing up to 25 years before a Sept. 14 court appearance.
  • The case comes as Thailand’s ONCB reports other Australia-linked heroin seizures, including 24.4 kilograms in Bangkok and a separate 6-kilogram interception in Phuket tied to parcels sent from Loei.

Insights

Is a flight attendant's arrest the tip of a drug network deeply embedded within the airline industry?
How do cartels use social media to turn airline staff into international drug mules for just a few hundred dollars?
Are police losing the war against traffickers who operate in the digital world of crypto and encrypted apps?