Police seize 104 Kg of heroin

Phuket native Pongthat Pongthirasakul, 29, and Taiwanese man Kuo Tak Tsai, 42, were arrested on Sunday from a house in the Phuket City Home Housing Estate in Muang Phuket, said Pol General Preowpan Damapong.

The arrest followed a tipoff in early August from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that members of a drug dealing gang, led by one Lan An Lung, would bring heroin from the Golden Triangle through Thailand to distribute in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and other countries.

According to the tipoff, a group of Thai people would hide the drugs in a Phuket house before it would be placed in gas tanks on a fishing boat and moved to a ship for transport to other countries.

The police followed the alleged gang members for nearly three months until they were certain the drug was hidden in that house and raided the place. Police found the heroin buried in a cement pond covered with a lid controlled by a hydraulic mechanism, he said.

Police charged the duo with possession of heroin for sale and also issued arrest warrants for five fugitives, Sarayuth Kesonniras, Sathit Paiboonisarakul, Mana Chaidee, Sumit Thanapiromkul and a Taiwanese man Chen Wen Ker, he said.

Police were also gathering evidence to apply for an arrest warrant for Lan An Lung, he added.