Bukit Aman narcotics criminal investigations department (NCID) chief Kamarudin Din said the suspect was believed to have ties with a drug syndicate network in Malaysia and was arrested on Dec 28, in Vientiane, Laos, for failure to possess valid travel documents under the country’s Immigration Act.

“The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Thailand has proposed to the Laos police to deport the suspect to Thailand, as he has been blacklisted under the Thailand Narcotics Act,” he said in a statement.

Kamarudin said his department is working with their counterparts in Vientiane and Bangkok to investigate further.

He added that the suspect is married and hails from Parit Buntar, Perak.

Earlier today, the Bangkok Post reported that a Malaysian drug dealer, identified as a key member of a transnational drug ring, was arrested in Laos last Friday.

A joint operation by law enforcement authorities from Thailand and Laos closed in on the suspect following the arrest of seven other suspects and the seizure of 998kg of crystal meth in Ratchaburi, Thailand, in June last year.

Local authorities had also seized a range of assets belonging to the Malaysian suspect, including a plot of land, two condos, three yachts, two cars, three motorcycles, three firearms, 275,000 baht in cash, 10 bank accounts and other valuable items.

The suspect is said to have played a crucial role in drug procurement and coordination with gangs operating in the Golden Triangle region.

He is believed to have worked with drug networks operating across Thailand, Malaysia, China, Singapore, and Laos, and had used Thailand as a hub for money laundering activities and as a transit point for smuggling drugs to various destinations.