08-07-2025
Fugitive Singaporean, Indonesians arrested for drug trafficking
A fugitive Singaporean suspect has been arrested in Bangkok for trafficking drugs from Thailand to Singapore, police said on Tuesday.
An Indonesian couple involved in the smuggling network were also taken into custody.
The prime suspect, identified as Tan Leng Chong, 50, was wanted on a Singaporean arrest warrant issued in May for alleged drug trafficking between Thailand and the island state, according to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) in Bangkok.
In Singapore, the offence carries the death penalty.
Acting on information from the Singaporean Central Narcotics Bureau, police found the suspect hiding in Pattaya, in Chon Buri, Pol Maj Gen Panurat Lakbun, secretary-general of the ONCB, said on Tuesday.
Investigators monitored Mr Chong's movements and folowed him to a hotel in Bangkok on Saturday, when he was to meet an Indonesian couple whose names were not revealed.
The couple were involved in the drug network, police said.
Police and immigration officials raided the hotel room and arrested Mr Chong and the two Indonesians. They also seized illicit drugs - estacy, ketamine and erimin 5, a prescription-only benzodiazepine derivative known as 'five-five'. (continues below)
Pol Maj Gen Panurat said Thai police were working with other Asian police in tracking drug suspects who flee abroad.
ONCB officers will travel to Myanmar next Wednesday to bring back two Thai drug suspects who have been arrested there, Pol Maj Gen Panurat said.
