Major drug dealer arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (TNA) -- Thai authorities arrest a Laotian man and three others who allegedly belong to a major drug syndicate at Suvarnabhumi Airport Thursday evening. The dramatic arrest took place at luggage area inside the airport terminal moments after Xayasana Keopimpha returning from vacation in Phuket en route to his home country. Police and airport authorities had planned the operation to nap one of the major drug dealers who was totally off guard. Pol Lt-General Sommai Kongwisaisuk, Commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, said the 41-year-old Laotian was traveling in Phuket with three persons before flying Bangkok. Xayasana was linked with a major drug gang operating in southern Thailand, said Pol Lt-General, describing his as the biggest drug lord in northeastern Thailand. The Laotian national is wanted for running a transnational drug network that operates in parts of Laos and Thailand. Police later arrested three of his gang members at an airport in the border province of Udon Thani. (TNA)