Photos: 24-year-old Nigerian man and Thai woman nabbed in Bangkok with 8.5kg of drugs hidden in handbags

24-year-old Nigerian national John Anike Chinedu & Sawaros Nathawil, 34, were arrested separately in Samut Prakan and Bangkok.

John was arrested on Friday, June 3 while Sawaros on Thursday. Both were taken for
a media briefing at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau headquarters on
Saturday.

A total of 8.5kg of crystal methamphetamine hidden in 35 women’s fashion handbags were seized from them.

Ms Sawaros was apprehended when she showed up to receive three
parcels at a car park of a condominium building on Srinakarin Road in
tambon Samrong Nua of Muang district in Samut Prakan on Thursday. The parcels contained the 35 new handbags, stuffed with drugs, said Pol Lt Gen Rewat Klinkesorn, NSB commissioner.

Her arrest came after the NSB received information from Chinese
authorities in Guangzhou that they had arrested an African drug
trafficking gang and seized an invoice detailing goods sent from
Guanzhou to Thailand by the suspects, said Pol Lt Gen Rewat.

When the woman arrived to receive the parcels, officers asked to
search them and found the drugs hidden in the linings, said the NSB
chief. Authorities then extended the investigation that led to the arrest of
the Nigerian suspect at a rented room in Lat Krabang on Friday.
A pack
of crystal meth was found stuffed in a handbag found in his room.
Several handbags similar to those found in the seized parcels were
also found in his room. However, those handbags had earlier been
slashed.

Pol Lt Gen Rewat said he believed the two suspects might be network
members of the Nigerian gang caught in China. The seized drugs were
destined for sale in Bangkok and Pattaya, particularly among wealthy
drug addicts, he added.

The duo have been charged with colluding in smuggling drugs into the
country with intent to sell. They were held in police custody for legal
action.