A Thai flight attendant accused of carrying more than one kilogramme of heroin into Australia will remain in custody after her Melbourne court case was adjourned. Thai investigators say she had been hired to carry the bags and have not established whether she knew drugs were concealed inside them.
The 26 year old flight attendant reportedly accepted the courier job through a Facebook group after an account using the name Rose Rose sought someone travelling to Australia to carry what was presented as OTOP products and clothing. She was later given 12 elephant-pattern tote bags to take to Melbourne.
Thai investigators have said they are still unable to determine whether she knew the bags contained heroin. Earlier inquiries found no illegal items during a search of her Bangkok condominium, while investigators continued tracing suspects who allegedly arranged and delivered the shipment.
She appeared at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this morning, September 14, following her arrest at Melbourne Airport on June 25. She was remanded in custody and is due to return to court on October 12.
Both prosecutors and her defence lawyers jointly requested the adjournment after telling Magistrate Kieran Gilligan that they had begun discussions aimed at resolving the case and needed more time for those talks to continue.
Gilligan described the development as “encouraging” before ordering her to remain in custody until her next appearance.
She was arrested after Australian Border Force officers detected anomalies while X-raying her luggage following her arrival in Melbourne. Australian police allege that more than one kilogramme of heroin was stitched into the lining of the 12 tote bags decorated with elephants and the word “Thailand”.
The drugs were estimated to have a street value of about A$500,000 in Australia. She has been charged with importing and possessing a marketable quantity of illicit drugs, with both offences carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if she is convicted.
The Thai flight attendant has remained in Australian custody since the June arrest. Thai Airways suspended her after learning of the case and opened its own disciplinary investigation.
Investigators in Thailand have meanwhile pursued people allegedly connected to the shipment. Three suspects, identified in Thai reports as Uthai, Nantawat and Ekkawit, have been detained, while Chantra, also known as Rose Rose, remains wanted under an arrest warrant.
Thai police say Rose Rose contacted people through Facebook groups offering paid courier work and was involved in hiring the flight attendant to carry the bags to Australia. Investigators have linked other suspects to the preparation and delivery of the bags before they reached her.
Thai prosecutors and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau said last week that they were working to complete the case file between September 11 and 14 and were considering additional attempted heroin export charges against the three detained suspects. Investigators are also continuing efforts to identify the intended recipient of the drugs in Australia.
As of the latest publicly available update, Rose Rose remained at large. Thai officials had not yet announced the completion of the case file by the time of writing.
Related news
The story Thai flight attendant heroin case adjourned to October 12 as seen on Thaiger News.
