Notorious drug lord linked to heroin bust

KLONG TOEY THOUGHT TO BE KEY TRANSIT POINT

Police have dealt a blow to the trafficking operations of drugs lord Weera Mueanjada, who has been on the run for 10 years, after four of his gang were caught in a major bust in Klong Toey Port on Friday.

The shadowy Weera, reportedly the sonin-law of a Wa Army leader Col Jalorbo who has been sought on a Thai arrest warrant issued in Lop Buri since 2007, is regarded by police as one of the top 10 major drug traffickers in Thailand.

Reports say a huge raid on suspected drug traffickers in Chiang Mai last week was aimed at his gang.

Four of his transnational trafficking gang were caught while trying to ship 48kg of heroin from Thailand to Taiwan through Bangkok Port, police said. The gang has for years moved huge quantities of narcotics from Myanmar into Thailand, where it is either sold or shipped overseas.

Police from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau caught Narutchai Rojanatheerasan, 27, a Thai national, Taiwanese man Hsu Chang-Hung, 31, and Chinese nationals Bai Yapeng, 26, and Rao Xiaohu following a raid on a Taiwanese-registered vessel on Friday morning.

The cargo ship was moored at the Port Authority of Thailand’s Terminal 1.

Pol Lt Gen Rewat Klinkesorn, the NSB commander who led the raid, said police seized 48kg of heroin, two computer CPU cases containing the drugs, 4.94 million baht in cash, a sedan, eight mobile phones, two keys to an apartment room and a key card.

He said Taiwanese authorities had sought Thai cooperation to watch out for suspicious Taiwanese tourists visiting Thailand.

The Taiwanese told Thai police that drug smugglers could be disguising themselves as ordinary tourists to slip quietly into Thailand, he added.

Pol Lt Gen Rewat said he ordered officers to launch an inspection of areas on Silom, Charoen Krung and Chan roads where many Taiwanese tourists stay after receiving a tip-off.

Last Thursday, narcotics police tracked down Mr Hsu, who was suspected of possessing illegal drugs with intent to sell, at Maenam Mansion in Bang Kholaem district.

Police found Mr Hsu had bought two computer CPU cases from a shop and then returned to his room, Pol Lt Gen Rewat said.

Mr Hsu and Mr Narutchai later emerged from the room with the two computer cases, put them in a car and drove to the Klong Toey port.

About 10.30pm, the pair handed over the cases to Mr Bai and Mr Rao who were waiting on board a cargo ship moored at the port, police said.

Around 3am on Friday, narcotics officers and custom officials raided the cargo ship and made the arrests, police said.

Police charged the four suspects with possession of illegal drugs and attempting to smuggle them to another country, Pol Lt Gen Rewat said.

At Maenam mansion, police found 220 grammes of heroin, 13,500 ecstasy pills, a gun and 21 boxes containing 1,050 bullets, plus a machine to pack drugs.