Australian appears before court for drug trafficking

Andrew Hoods, 36, an Australian, was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport’s departure hall on Wednesday afternoon with 3kg of heroin strapped to his body. He was charged with drug smuggling after Thai Customs found the drugs concealed in 12 packages. However, another Australian, a friend of Hoods, managed to escape from the airport and is on the run.

Hoods appeared in a Bangkok court on drug trafficking charges on Dec 19. He was handcuffed and chained to two other prisoners when he arrived at Bangkok’s criminal court.

Hoods was all aware of his mistake and admitted his crime saying, “I was caught with heroin, trying to bring it to Australia. I made a big mistake and I’m going to pay for it man, do you know what I mean, I’m going to pay for it.”

The heroine was estimated to have a street value of about 12 million baht ($494,000). Drug trafficking in Thailand carries the death penalty. Thailand had toughened its drug laws in 2002, but remains a transit point for narcotics produced in neighbouring Burma, the world’s second largest opium producer and a major methamphetamine hub.