Bukit Aman officers in Bangkok to interrogate suspect over huge ‘Ice’ haul

BANGKOK: Three Bukit Aman (Malaysian Federal Police) officers are currently in Bangkok to interrogate two Malaysian men who were arrested with 700 kilogrammes of “Ice” (Crystal Methaphetamine) in Hatyai two days ago.

The presence of Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) officers in Bangkok was confirmed by Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) head Lt Gen Sommai Kongvisaisuk.

“We, the NSB welcome the team from Bukit Aman’s NCID to question the Malaysian suspects. We (NSB and NCID) always work together on drug suppression,” he told Bernama yesterday, adding that it showed the prevailing good cooperation between the two neighbours.

The three Malaysian police officers, he said, arrived in Bangkok late last night and are scheduled to start grilling the two suspects, aged 34 and 49 years, at NSB’s headquarters today, before returning home today.

Bernama was made to understand that the two men have been transferred to NSB’s headquarters in Bangkok from Hatyai earlier.

The NSB has also transported the seized drugs from Hatyai in southern Thailand to its headquarters in Bangkok, where they are expected to call a media conference next week to announce one of their biggest drug seizure this year.

The two Malaysians were arrested by undercover policemen while they were busy unloading the drugs from a lorry transporting pineapples and watermelon to a rented house, which serves as a warehouse, before they could smuggle the drugs across the border into Malaysia.

Thai police had also arrested the lorry driver and a local Thai man, whom the police suspect was an accomplice to the two Malaysians.

Investigators believe the two detained Malaysians are only the middle-men to a big transnational drug syndicate and the interrogation by the Bukit Aman officers today is expected to centre on the identity of the mastermind behind one of the most audacious attempt to smuggle 700kg of “Ice” into Malaysia.

“They (the Malaysian officers) are expected to grill the men about the mastermind behind the syndicate,” said a source.

The investigators also told Bernama the huge amount of drugs confiscated from the two Malaysian men in Hatyai showed the drug syndicate behind the failed attempt was “a big player” with international outreach.

They also believe that much of the seized “Ice” were intended for international and regional markets, due to the drugs’ higher-level of purity which usually fetches a higher price. - Bernama