This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
On August 21, 2019, Thai authorities arrested a Kenyan national, Glenn Chivasello Ooko, at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok while he was on transit from Ethiopia.
Ooko, 43, was held after an X-ray revealed 68 small packets inside his stomach that contained 1.2kg of cocaine.
According to Thai authorities, Ooko swallowed cocaine weighing 1.2 kilograms, which were in 68 packets.
Officers from the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) also arrested a Nigerian man, Osita Joseph Ukpa, 40, who is said to have hired the Kenyan to smuggle the narcotics.
‘This is part of a drug network in Thailand,’ said Niyom Termsrisuk, secretary-general of ONCB.
Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Thailand and is punishable by death.
The arrests were made as part of the ‘Airport Interdiction Task Force’ drugs crackdown, according to a report by the Bangkok Post.
