Arrest warrants issued for Indian national in Thailand

Bangkok: Thai authorities have issued arrest warrants for two persons, including an Indian, in connection with the death of a Bhutanese drug mule whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in a canal here.

The Criminal Court approved warrants for Manoj Kumar Daga, 38, and Tandin Wangchuck, 31, of Bhutan.

Their photos were splashed in the local daily Bangkok Post.

The two were charged with colluding to possess and sell illegal drugs and concealing or destroying a human corpse, Thai media reported.

The warrants followed the discovery of the body of unidentified man who was found stuffed into a suitcase thrown into the Phra Nakhon district canal on April 3.

Police earlier believed the man was likely an Indian national.

They later found the corpse was that of a 46-year-old Bhutanese national.

He was identified by Channel 3 as Ugyen Tshering.

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the dead man was a member of a transnational drug trafficking gang who died when a packet of drugs he was smuggling by swallowing them had burst inside him.

There were eight members in the gang, comprising Indian and Bhutanese nationals, Bangkok Post said.

The gang members were believed to have each swallowed between 40-50 small packs of methamphetamines.