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A Thai tourist has been accused of smuggling hashish concealed inside tissue boxes and food items, allegedly in exchange for financial compensation ... but her associates were one step ahead of the police.
An accomplice based in Bahrain, who was supposed to receive the shipment, managed to evade arrest after discovering – through a GPS tracker hidden in the luggage – that the suitcases were already at the police station.
Although authorities had planned an ambush to apprehend the contact, the individual remained unidentified and avoided capture by exercising extreme caution.
The 29-year-old Thai woman is on trial at the High Criminal Court on charges of possessing marijuana with an intent to trade, and methamphetamine for recreational purposes. She claimed she was instructed by a Thai dealer based in the Maldives to deliver the substances to an unidentified individual in Bahrain.
Upon the defendant’s arrival on a flight from Bangkok in September, airport customs flagged her luggage after an officer noticed suspicious items inside. He marked the suitcase with an agreed symbol, ‘X’, indicating it should undergo a thorough inspection by other customs staff.
After collecting her luggage from the baggage claim area, she attempted to exit through the Green Lane (‘Nothing to Declare’), but was redirected to the Red Lane (‘Goods to Declare’) for inspection.
Before she was searched, an officer asked her if she had anything to declare, and she said yes.
Policemen found six bags containing a substance, believed to be hashish, weighing a total of 2.75kg, concealed in four containers of food and two tissue boxes, packed neatly between folded clothes.
When questioned, she said she was asked by her Maldives-based female boss to deliver the goods to a person who lives in Bahrain, whom she does not know. She added that the suitcase was to be dropped off at a hotel where she also had a reservation arranged by the same woman.
In an attempt to nab the unidentified individual in the act, policemen tried to set up an exchange of shipment, with the defendant under observation. The Thai woman was asked to reach out to her boss and the other person.
However, the alleged dealers anticipated the move and avoided meeting the defendant because they knew that the bag was stored in a police station, since a tracking device was planted along with the hashish.
“The presence of the GPS device proves that the defendant knew very well the contents of the baggage, and that she did it for financial gain,” a detective earlier stated.
Traces of methamphetamine were detected in the defendant’s urine sample, the Public Prosecution noted.
Judges have set February 10 as the date to issue a verdict in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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