Police arrest Singaporean drug suspect hiding in Samut Prakan

Thai police swooped in on a drug suspect wanted in Singapore in Samut Prakan’s Bang Plee district on Tuesday.

Pol Lt-General Panurat Lakboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), told the press on Wednesday that Benny Kee Soon Chuan, 28, had been tracked down to a house in the neighbouring province.

Panurat said Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) had called on the ONCB on August 12 to hunt down the man, who had escaped an arrest warrant and sought refuge in Thailand.

He quoted the CNB as saying that Soon Chuan faces charges for allegedly sending drugs by mail from Thailand to Singapore and Australia. Most of the drugs were crystal meth, ketamine and ecstasy, Panurat added.

After receiving the request, ONCB coordinated with the Immigration Bureau to track down Soon Chuan and found him living in luxury with no known means of income. During the raid at his rented house, the ONCB seized 26 items, including a luxury car, gold ornaments, luxury watches and bags.

Prin Mekhanan, director of the drug suppression office under the ONCB, told the press that Soon Chuan was also suspected of being involved in two drug cases in which two Singaporeans were arrested in 2021 and 2022.

In the first case, Teo Zhi Jie was nabbed on June 3, 2021, for trying to mail some “ice” or crystal methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine to Singapore. The package was intercepted.

On March 2, 2022, Wee Ping Adrian Peh was arrested for allegedly trying to mail some “ice” to Australia on November 10, 2021, but the package was intercepted.

Prin said Soon Chuan travelled to Thailand often on his Singapore passport but also sneaked in using different natural routes. Early this year, he had entered Thailand using a Vanuatu passport to avoid detection.

He added that Soon Chuan will first face legal action for overstaying his visa before he is extradited to Singapore, where he may face a life sentence or even the death penalty.