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BANGKOK: A Singaporean said to be wanted for alleged drug trafficking in the city-state has been arrested at a Bangkok hotel during a raid by Thai police, immigration officers and officers from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
In a statement on Facebook, the ONCB announced on Tuesday (Jul 8) that it successfully arrested 50-year-old Tan Leng Chong last Saturday. It added that Tan was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in Singapore in May for allegedly trafficking drugs from Thailand to the city-state.
Secretary-General of the ONCB, Phanurat Lakboon, said that Tan was found hiding in Pattaya, Chonburi province, as reported by Thai news outlet Bangkok Post.
He had used Thailand as a hiding spot as well as a base for his drug trafficking operations, according to a news report by NBT Connext of the Thai government’s public relations department.
ONCB said that last Saturday, investigators learned that Tan had travelled to Bangkok and he was seen meeting two Indonesians at a hotel.
An Indonesian man and woman believed to have been involved in the drug smuggling operations were also arrested in the hotel room, where illegal drugs such as ecstasy, ketamine, and Erimin-5, a prescription-only derivative of the depressant benzodiazepine, were seized.
Thai authorities with the seized items and the suspect, Tan Leng Chong, seated and wearing a red T-shirt. (Photo: Facebook/ONCB)
Their identities were not revealed by the Thai authorities, though according to the NBT Connext report, they were a married couple.
ONCB said that following the arrests, Thai authorities searched two properties in Pattaya linked to Tan. However the subsequent raids did not find any more drugs or illegal items.
According to the NBT Connext report, Prin Mekhanan, the Director of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB), ONCB, added that the investigation found that the suspect allegedly has a history of ordering drugs from central Thailand before smuggling them out of the country by hiding them in a carry-on bag on the plane.
A Maserati car with a fake licence plate was also seized around the time of the arrests.
The statement from the ONCB said that Singapore’s CNB has previously requested cooperation from the Thai NSB, and ONCB to help investigate and track down Singaporeans with arrest warrants for drug cases who have fled to live in Thailand.
These wanted individuals are to be brought back to Singapore for prosecution upon their arrest. The statement also said that the ONCB has coordinated with the CNB to exchange information in the investigation and tracking of individuals with arrest warrants.
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, drug trafficking carries the death penalty in Singapore.
CNA has reached out to CNB for comment.
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