Had she been able to evade security in Nepal and was subsequently arrested in Bangkok, she would have faced capital punishment. But the Thai national avoided that as she was arrested in Kathmandu while trying to fly on to Kaula Lampur.[break]
“I am very glad I got arrested in Kathmandu,” SSP Nawaraj Silwal, deputy chief at the Narcotic Drugs Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU), quoted Mcintosh as saying.
Mcintosh, 35, has been remanded in custody at Hanumandhoka Metropolitan Police office for further investigation, and as per Nepali law she faces up to a life sentence.
“As she was found carrying a large quantity -- one kg -- of cocaine, we have demanded life imprisonment for her,” Silwal told Republica.
Investigation by NDCLEU uncovered that the Thai woman had already traveled to many destinations illegally and acquired passports more than 10 times, each time canceling her previous passport.
“After interrogating her, we found that this is not her first involvement in drug smuggling,” Siwal said.
In her recorded statement she even said that she is very fond of travel.
SSP Silwal said Mcintosh would destroy her passport after accomplishing a mission, and would apply for a new passport for a new venture so that no one would be able to trace her activities. Nepal police could not find in her possession any documents, except her passport and air tickets for Malaysia and Bangkok, when she was arrested.
Her current passport (Y 951544) was issued on November 8, 2011 and she departed Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok on December 18, 2011.
Similarly, NDCLEU investigation shows that her travel from Peru to Nepal was meticulously planned for December 31, thinking that she could evade security during the festive season.
Likewise, her tactic of going for security check-ins at the last minute shows that she has been through such travel several times before, informed Silwal.
The investigation further showed that she was hired by another Thai woman, who put up her travel and lodging expenses, to smuggle the cocaine from Peru to Thailand, and 20 tuna fish cans of the narcotic were dispatched from Peru the same day. However, it was only in Nepal that she was nabbed.
Mcintosh is a divorcee -she was married to a Scot- and mother of four, and she doesn´t want her family to learn about her detention in Kathmandu.
Had she been able to deliver the cocaine to its destination, she would have probably received US$ 10,000, according to Silwal. One kg of cocaine fetches 200,000 dollars in the international market.
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