Iranians top police watch list for possible drug traffickers

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Iranians top police watch list for possible drug traffickers
Couriers continue to take big risks bringing ice into Thailand
Published: 13/12/2010 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News

Iranian drug traffickers take risks in using Thailand as a regional distribution hub for crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice". Yet still they keep coming.

Most drug smugglers arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport are from Iran, says the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB). Iranian nationals travelling to Bangkok appear at the top of drug police watch lists as potential trafficking risks.

Drugs police this year have arrested 75 Iranians carrying a total of 164kg of the illicit drug.

Passengers from other countries caught with ice during the same period were carrying much less, and there were fewer of them.

Iranians attempted to traffic large amounts of the drug, 3kg to 5.7kg, with an estimated value of 10 million baht to 20 million baht.

Crystal meth, or ice, is the second most popular illicit drug in Thailand after amphetamine. It sells for 3,000 baht a gramme.

Iran is the biggest exporting country of the drug, in both crystallised and liquefied forms, into Thailand.

A senior NSB source said Teheran was emerging as the world's leading producer of crystal meth, which is reflected in an increase in the number of Iranians stopping over in Thailand with the drug, prior to distributing it in East Asia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The key destinations are Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, where African mafia gangs are thought to play a role in smuggling the drug to other countries. However, some of the drugs are also sold in Bangkok and Pattaya, the source said.

"The people arrested at the airport carrying drugs were just couriers hired by drug gangs in their countries of origin," the source said.

Iranian drug gangs think it is worth the risk sending couriers to Thailand, even if only a few are able to penetrate airport security, said the officer.

Passengers found with drugs at the airport travelled on 15 non-direct air travel routes from Teheran.

Couriers choose flights with transit points in countries such as Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Passengers flying direct usually choose Mahan Air, a Teheran-based private airline.

Sophisticated methods are deployed for smuggling. Suitcases, shoes and other personal belongings are specially modified for hiding drugs, while the liquid form of ice is packaged in drinking water bottles.

"Although it's hard to spot drug traffickers, we believe the situation is well under control," the source said.

Passengers from India, Mali, Nepal, Brazil, Peru, Pakistan and Ghana also appear on the NSB's drug trafficking watch list as nationals from these countries have also been caught smuggling illicit drugs into Thailand, including heroin and cocaine.

Source:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/211016/iranians-top-police-watch-list-for-possible-drug-traffickers