A Singaporean drug smuggler who was arrested this week in Samut Prakan will be deported back to his country, where he is likely to be given the death penalty, officials said on Wednesday.
Benny Kee Soon Chuan ran a smuggling operation involving crystal meth, ketamine and ecstasy, to Australia and Singapore via Thailand, according to Pol Lt Gen Panurat Lakboonto, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
Further investigation showed the suspect was involved in two previous smuggling cases in which narcotics were shipped to Singapore and Australia in 2021.
Local investigators found he had fled his country and was living a luxurious life in tambon Bang Kaew of Bang Phli district in Samut Prakan, Pol Lt Gen Panurat said at a briefing.
The suspect’s Thai visa was cancelled, and officers of Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau joined with Thai authorities to arrest him on Tuesday. Assets worth 15 million baht were also seized. He was found to have entered Thailand on a Vanuatu passport, Pol Lt Gen Panurat said.
The ONCB is working to have the man deported. Under Singaporean law, those who engage in drug trafficking can face capital punishment.
