2 foreigners, 2 Thais held in cannabis oil smuggling bust
Two foreigners and two Thais have been arrested on charges of making tonnes of cannabis oil and smuggling it to Europe. The arrests followed raids on two warehouses in Samut Prakan.
The foreigners were named as 67-year-old UK national Joseph Toole and 65-year-old Canadian David Kulik. The Thai suspects were Suriyan Suwanchairob, 34, and Supakit Kaeoma, 54.
Deputy national police chief Chalermkiat Sriworakhan said yesterday that police were tipped off about the operation in March, prompting a lengthy investigation. The smugglers allegedly hid the cannabis in compressed coconut peat, or coir, and exported it to Belgium. The tip-off came after a shipment was intercepted in Antwerp.
Investigators later discovered the gang hid cannabis, cannabis oil and production equipment in two warehouses in tambon Bang Phli Yai and tambon Racha Thewa in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan.
Police raided the warehouses on Monday and seized 70.22 kilogrammes of cannabis oil in 57 bottles, 6.6kg of cannabis paste and some chemicals. Mr Suriyan was arrested in Sakon Nakhon province, Mr Supakit in Bangkok, and the two foreigners in Pattaya.
Pol Gen Chalermkiat said the Canadian was suspected of being one of the financiers of the operation while the Briton directed production.
The gang had allegedly been producing the oil in Bang Phli for over a year, and to have smuggled five tonnes of cannabis oil to Belgium. He also said police believed the gang included a Japanese financier.
Mr Suriyan was allegedly responsible for guarding the drugs and equipment and Mr Supakit ran a shipping firm which supposedly handled the smuggling.