Thailand’s Ministry of Transport tightens airport baggage screening procedures for both passengers and cabin crew following the Thai flight attendant arrest in Australia linked to an alleged drug smuggling case.
Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat attended a meeting of the Narcotics Prevention and Suppression Committee and related agencies on Friday, July 3, on behalf of Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.
Speaking after the meeting, Siripong said baggage belonging to passengers and cabin crew is already screened in line with international standards, with authorities regularly making arrests and seizing narcotics during inspections of departing and arriving travellers.
He said drug trafficking networks continually adapt their methods to evade security procedures, making it necessary for authorities to strengthen screening measures at airports nationwide.
Siripong said the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) will coordinate with airlines to introduce additional security measures.
These include considering a ban on shopping courier services used by cabin crew, increasing training for X-ray screening officers, improving intelligence sharing on suspected drug trafficking, and deploying more drug detection dogs.
He added that more than 60 K9 units from the Royal Thai Police will work alongside dogs from the Customs Department to reinforce airport screening operations.
The announcement follows the arrest of a Thai Airways flight attendant, identified as Mina, who was detained at Melbourne Airport on June 25 after Australian authorities found about one kilogramme of heroin concealed inside 12 tote bags.
Thai police have since expanded their investigation into the suspected trafficking network. Authorities recently arrested another suspect, 47 year old Uthai, who delivered a box containing the tote bags to Mina’s condominium before her departure.
According to police, Uthai admitted travelling to Phayao on June 20 to collect the heroin concealed in the bags before transporting them to Bangkok. He then hired another man, identified only as Pae, to drive him to Mina’s condominium, where the parcel was left.
Uthai told investigators he did not know Mina personally and apologised for her arrest in Australia. He also admitted delivering heroin on two previous occasions, receiving about 60,000 baht for each job. Police said he claimed he became involved because of the financial reward.
The investigation into the alleged trafficking network remains ongoing.
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