BANGKOK, July 18 — A Gambian national arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport with 3.1 kg of crystal methamphetamine, or ‘ice’, worth more than Bt9 million.
Suspect Camara Lamin was apprehended with six plastic packages of the drug hidden in bottles of shower cream and skin care lotion.
Police said they had received a tip off that a Gambian would try to smuggle drugs into Thailand.
Mr Lamin flew via Ethiopian Airlines from Addid Ababa and was stopping over in Thailand before continuing to Cambodia. The Thai authorities said he was behaving suspiciously while awaiting his flight and asked to search his luggage.
Mr Lamin confessed that he was hired by an unidentified African to smuggle the drug to customers in Cambodia. He said he received US$3,000 as advance payment and was promised $2,000 more when he completed his delivery.
The suspect said he had delivered the drugs many times, mainly for a small group of customers in Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, using Thailand as his transit point.
He was charged with possessing an illicit drug for sale and importing drugs without permission.
