A Thai husband and his Laotian wife are being escorted to Bangkok from Loei on Friday for further interrogations by narcotics authorities, who were trying to shed light on a network in relations to the seized heroin carried by a Thai Airways International (TG) cabin crew in Melbourne.
Areepak Ngernbamroong, spokeswoman for the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said Arthit, 43, and his wife Thatsaphon, 42, will be in Bangkok on Friday for ONCB officers to question the pair to widen investigations into the Australia-linked drug case.
Ms Areepak, who is also the ONCB deputy secretary-general, said the couple has not been charged and are being treated only as suspects involved in the dispatching process of the heroin to Ms Meena, the TG air crew.
The husband and wife, as well as the airline employee, are identified only by their first names.
Mr Arthit and Ms Thatsaphon were questioned by ONCB investigators and police in Loei on Thursday. Mr Arthit told them that he had been hired to send parcels from Laos on six occasions to Bangkok, the latest one on June 28, while his wife denied any links with the packages and delivery. He also said he acted alone.
Authorities suspected that the couple could possibly be linked to a cell of a drug syndicate sending narcotics to clients in Thailand.
The TG air crew was arrested with more than one kilogramme of heroin at Melbourne Airport on June 25. The street price of the heroin was estimated at A$500,000 (11.5 million baht).
ONCB authorities are still looking for a driver who sent the parcel to Ms Meena's condominium on June 22. Though the condo's CCTV captured an image and the vehicle's, his identity remains unknown as he was wearing an outfit with a hood when he dropped the package at the apartment.
