Thai Authorities Seize Cocaine Disguised As Beauty Creams, With Links To Russian Mob

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Lending credence to the oft-said adage, 'beauty is only skin deep', shocked Thai police seized 2.35kg of cocaine disguised as beauty cream products at the Suvarnabhumi Airport Monday. The cocaine, suspected to have originated from the Russian underworld, was transformed into creamy-like substances and packaged as international brands' body lotions and facial creams. It was no scent of a woman when the Thai narcotics police came across an Ecuadorean woman behaving suspiciously at the airport. Upon checking the 55-year-old's belongings, the police stumbled on the so-called body lotions and facial creams which turned out to be cocaine, said Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) Commander (Division 3), Maj-Gen Wuttipong Petchgumeard. "This is the first time we have come across cocaine in a creamy texture and this could alarm enforcement authorities throughout the region," he told a media conference here Tuesday. Upon further investigations by the police, Wuttipong said the Ecuadorean woman told investigators that she was supposed to deliver the seized 'beauty creams' to a Russian man in Bangna area near Bangkok. "The 31-year-old Russian suspect was also arrested in a follow-up operation and initial investigations revealed that Bangkok was the final stop for the cocaine. "The cocaine in a cream which we seized had originated from a Russian gang," he said, adding that the police would continue investigations and possibily, make more arrests. Meanwhile, national police deputy chief Gen Chalermkiat Sriwirikhan who was also present at the media conference announced the seizure of 988,000 of 'yaba' (a type of methamphetamine) pills in southern Thailand, two days ago. The drug, he said, originated from the Wa State, an autonomous region inside Myanmar and was destined for Sungai Golok in Narathiwat, near the Kelantan border. He said four people were detained to facilitate investigations. In another case on Feb 9, NSB's commander for southern region Maj Gen Dusadee Choosankij said the police seized 300,000 'yaba' pills from Chiangrai, northern Thailand which was destined for Hatyai. A man was detained to assist police investigations. -- BERNAMA