New suspects in ‘Pooky’ drug case
Police are further tracing the money trail of the Thai-Taiwanese drug trafficking gang linked to arrested singer Prissana “Pooky” Praisaeng, after finding suspicious transactions between her and three actors and one actress, said a source yesterday.
Police last night charged Prissana with drug trafficking and dealing.
The singer was arrested on Monday night along with her husband Cholawit Keetatrakul, 49, following the arrest of a Taiwanese man, Hung Cheng Yi, 28, with 5.17kg of ketamine hidden in 39 boxed ash trays at the Gold Airport Suites Hotel in Lat Krabang district near Suvarnabhumi airport.
At this point, police had found about 10 million baht circulating in Ms Prissana’s bank accounts, which they believe came from both her illegal drug trade business and from her role as a singer, said Pol Lt Gen Chinnaphat Sarasin, chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.
Ms Prissana could have earned 700,000 baht if the drug trafficking operation had been successful, said the source.
It is not known why the actress turned to drugs, police say.
Hung Cheng Yi has so far admitted to only being hired to smuggle the drugs out of Thailand, said the source.
Citing information obtained from the drug suppression police, the source said the Taiwanese ketamine trafficking gang had been active in Thailand for a long time, colluding with Thai drug networks in ordering the drugs from the Golden Triangle with a plan to smuggle them into Taiwan where prices of the drugs are normally 10 times higher.
The Golden Triangle is where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.
The area is known as a prime opiumproducing area in the region.
Police are also seeking cooperation with their Taiwanese counterparts in tracking another Taiwanese suspect who had fled Thailand prior to the arrests of these three suspects, the source said.
The wanted Taiwanese man is believed to be the financier of the drug trafficking operation.
He had visited Thailand before returning home, Pol Lt Gen Chinnaphat said.
Police are also tracking the origin of the drugs which Ms Prissana claimed to have purchased from a dealer in Chokechai Si area of Bangkok, said the source.
They had not not yet pinpointed whether the claimed dealer is a member of a drug network operating in the area or if the area was simply picked as where the drugs were delivered.
Pol Maj Suriya Singhakamon, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said Taiwan was the largest market for crystal methamphetamine smuggled through Thailand from the northern border areas.