Pinoy among 6 arrested in drug bust in Thailand




Tags: Pinoys in Thailand
A Filipino was among six people arrested in Thailand Wednesday for allegedly being part of an international drug trafficking network whose operations included the United States and the Philippines.
 
The six were arrested in Phuket as part of a joint operation with Nigeria and Kenya, Thailand's Bangkok Post on Friday quoted police as saying.
 
Police arrested Joseph Manuel Hunter, 47, the drug network's alleged leader, and five suspected accomplices on Wednesday evening.
 
Arrested along with Hunter were two Britons, a Slovakian, a Filipino and a Taiwanese. The six were flown to Bangkok Thursday for questioning.
 
"This group was considered to be a big network that spanned many countries," including Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines," it quoted deputy police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang as saying.

Somyot also described Hunter as a "leading drug lord" wanted for drug smuggling, trafficking and other international crimes.
 
Narcotics Suppression Division 1 commander Chaiya Rujjanavet said police forces in Nigeria and Kenya conducted similar operations on the same day, arresting two eastern European men in Nigeria and two others in Kenya.
 
The Bangkok Post quoted police as saying Hunter served in the US Navy, and his alleged accomplices were also believed to have had military training.
 
"All these people were trained to kill," police Lt Gen Somyot said at a police airport in Bangkok.
 
The secret operation was a joint effort of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
 
Hunter was on the DEA's most wanted list, the Bangkok Post report said.
 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Manasvi Srisodapol said Thursday the ministry had received a letter from the US embassy on Sept. 17.
 
The ministry then asked the Office of the Attorney-General to seek arrest warrants for the suspects. - ELR, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more