BANGKOK — Thai authorities have not confirmed reports that 11 French nationals were detained in Thailand for drug trafficking, and available official and credible reporting does not substantiate the claim as of Wednesday.
Recent Thai law-enforcement reporting instead confirms the detention of two French nationals in Bangkok in June who were wanted by French authorities. Thai immigration officials said the men were identified as Abdulrahim, about 35, and Mustafa, 33, and were detained in a condominium in the Asok area. One of the men was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice over allegations including drug importation and distribution, participation in a transnational criminal organization and money laundering.
Thai authorities said the two men were considered prohibited persons under Thai immigration law and that their permission to remain in the country was revoked before they were detained. The operation followed surveillance and cooperation with French law-enforcement authorities, according to Thai officials.
Separate Thai investigations in June also resulted in the arrest of nine foreign nationals in Phuket in a case involving alleged nominee arrangements for foreign-owned businesses and land. The suspects included two French nationals, alongside five Israelis, one Dutch national and one Russian national. The investigation was not reported as a drug-trafficking case.
Thai authorities have stepped up operations against foreign suspects and alleged transnational criminal networks in recent months. In another case in May, Thai police arrested an American national in Pattaya who was wanted in the United States over alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
No reliable source reviewed for this report establishes that 11 French nationals were detained in Thailand on drug-trafficking charges on or immediately before Aug. 12. The figure may therefore reflect a conflation of separate arrests or an unverified report.
The latest confirmed information available indicates that the documented Thai case involving French nationals and alleged drug trafficking concerns two men wanted by French authorities, rather than 11 French nationals detained together in Thailand.
