Metropolitan Police coordinated with the Narcotics Suppression Bureau to expand the case of a female air hostess caught smuggling heroin into Australia. Recently, they arrested another accomplice in Ayutthaya. The suspect confessed that a man named Uthai, wearing a hoodie, had entrusted the heroin to him. Upon hearing the air hostess was arrested, he panicked and hastily slit a Thai elephant-patterned cloth bag, flushed the heroin down the toilet, and scattered fragments to destroy evidence. However, Deputy Chief Jor led a team to recover the cloth pieces and send them for forensic examination, which found heroin residue remaining.
On 5 July 2026, Police Chief Kittirat Phanphet ordered Police Chief Samran Nuanma, Deputy Commissioner and Director of the Narcotics Suppression Center, Metropolitan Police Chief Siam Boonsom, and Narcotics Suppression Bureau Chief Achayon Kraithong to lead the arrest team. The operation, led by Metropolitan Police Deputy Commander Theeradech Thammasuthi, responsible for narcotics, and Deputy Commander Worapot Rungkrajang of the Metropolitan Police Investigation Division, resulted in the arrest of 47-year-old Nantawat from Phayao Province.
He faces charges of "jointly trafficking Category 1 narcotics (heroin) by possessing for sale without authorization, conducted as a commercial act."
The evidence includes fragments of seven Thai elephant-patterned cloth bags and white powder residue extracted from the bag linings, sealed in two clear plastic bags weighing 0.4 grams each. Preliminary tests confirmed the substance as Category 1 narcotics (heroin).
This case originated when, on 30 June 2026, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) directly informed the Royal Thai Police Chief that Australian Border Force (ABF) officers had arrested Ms. Mina, a flight attendant of a certain airline, at Melbourne Airport with about 900 grams of heroin hidden inside the lining of a Thai elephant-patterned cloth bag.
Following investigation, police traced the network and searched the room of Nantawat, the latest suspect, at a dormitory in Kamang Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province.
Nantawat confessed that he had previously been entrusted with a black bag containing six Thai elephant-patterned cloth bags hiding drugs by a man named Uthai.
Later, upon learning that the female air hostess had been arrested in Australia, he became fearful. He contacted Uthai, who told him to "handle it however you see fit." Nantawat then decided to slit and destroy all the cloth bags, flushed the heroin powder down the toilet in his room to destroy evidence, then placed the bag scraps and handles into black bags and drove around discarding them at various locations in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanpeerasit Julpipop, Investigation Officer of Division 3, Metropolitan Police Investigation Bureau, led officers from the Metropolitan Narcotics Suppression Center to have the suspect point out the disposal locations. At a key site along Road 4040 in Champa Subdistrict, Tha Ruea District, they found a black bag containing remnants of the Thai elephant-patterned cloth bags. Forensic officers extracted white powder clinging to the cloth fragments, which preliminary examination confirmed as heroin.
Initially, police recorded the arrest and detained Nantawat, transferring him to the Narcotics Suppression Command for legal proceedings. Authorities are preparing to continue pursuing remaining accomplices for strict prosecution.