Diplomat jailed over drugs

Saturday 05 December 1992 00:02 GMT

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A Thai diplomat, Piseth Pamarapa, was jailed for 20 years yesterday for his part in a pounds 4.5m heroin smuggling operation.

His co-defendants Surat Sakkaravej, 57, a businessman, of Primrose Hill, north London, and Dameed Khan, 34, of Barking, Essex, received 17 and 20-year sentences respectively at Kingston Crown Court. The trio were convicted on drug smuggling charges in June after a four-week trial.

They were caught after Pamarapa, 44, of Richmond, Surrey, walked through the green channel at Heathrow Airport wearing his diplomat badge carrying 49.36 kilos of heroin in two suitcases. The Thai government waived his diplomatic immunity allowing the case to proceed.

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