KOH SAMUI - Four Britons and a Malaysian have been arrested at Samui international airport with bags containing 144 kilogrammes of cannabis buds destined for Britain and Singapore, police said on Thursday.
The five foreigners were checking in with seven suitcases for a flight from the resort island to Singapore at 6pm on Wednesday when police pulled them aside to have the bags searched, said Pol Col Denduang Thongsrisook, chief of the Bo Phut police station.
UK citizens Mark Siemaszkiewicz and Richard McMahon, both 46, had four suitcases containing 85.3kg of cannabis buds. Their British compatriots Peace Adefila, 27, and Esther Fakuade, 26, had two suitcases with 35.8kg of cannabis.
The four were planning to take another flight from Singapore to Britain. They said Thai men had asked them to bring the bags to the UK in exchange for either debt repayment or £2,000 (about 87,000 baht), according to Pol Col Denduang.
The street value of the cannabis haul in the UK is estimated at a minimum of 15 million baht.
The Malaysian, Tan Chin Tick, 47, was carrying a bag containing 22.8kg of cannabis buds. He had been hired for 6,000 ringgit (about 45,000 baht) to smuggle the bag to Singapore, his final destination.
Pol Col Denduang said police were expanding their investigation to find the mastermind of the smuggling ring.
