Key facts
- Drug trafficking networks are using social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook to recruit Thai airline crew members.
- A Thai Airways flight attendant was arrested in Australia for importing over 1kg of heroin.
- The heroin had an estimated street value of A$500,000.
- Authorities seized 24.38kg of heroin destined for Australia and Taiwan.
- Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has reached a decade-high, fueling heroin production.
Drug trafficking networks are increasingly using social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook to recruit individuals, including airline crew, to act as couriers for illicit substances. A recent incident involved a Thai Airways flight attendant arrested in Australia for importing over a kilogram of heroin, highlighting this growing trend.
Authorities in Thailand have identified social media accounts, such as one named 'Powder is Powder,' used by these networks to find people willing to transport drugs for a fee. These operations often procure drugs from neighboring countries, particularly Myanmar, where opium poppy cultivation has surged to its highest level in a decade, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The substances are then concealed in everyday items and moved across borders.
In the case of the arrested flight attendant, she was initially contacted through a social media group where people offer to carry items for hire. Communication then moved to Facebook with a user named 'Rose Rose,' and a fee of 8,800 baht ($265.46) was agreed upon. The heroin, hidden in tote bags, had an estimated street value of A$500,000 ($347,150).
Thai agencies, coordinating with Australian and Taiwanese authorities, have also seized 24.38 kilograms of heroin intended for these destinations, concealed in various items. Two individuals, a Thai man and his Laotian wife, have been arrested on suspicion of sending drug parcels from a border province to Bangkok.