The arrest was made at about 10am yesterday (July 8) in the international departures terminal by officers from Phuket Airport Customs in cooperation with Sakhu Police.
The suspect, identified as Sergei Chalabari, 30, was stopped while travelling with two blue BP WORLD wheeled suitcases weighing a combined eight kilogrammes.
A search of the luggage uncovered 35 vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis flowers, weighing 11.4kg including packaging, and 12 bags of cannabis resin, weighing 6.2kg including packaging, concealed inside the suitcases.
The cannabis and the two suitcases were seized as evidence.
During questioning, Sergei admitted that the luggage and all of the seized cannabis belonged to him, authorities said.
He was charged with attempting to smuggle goods out of Thailand without going through customs procedures before being handed over to investigators at Sakhu Police Station for further legal action.
The arrest is the latest in a growing series of cannabis smuggling cases at Phuket International Airport in recent weeks, though authorities have yet to explain why the island has become the apparent focus of the attempted exports.
On Tuesday (July 7), a 21-year-old Belgian woman was arrested after officials discovered about 31.7kg of cannabis flowers and processed cannabis concealed in two suitcases as she prepared to board an international flight. She was charged with customs offences as well as multiple offences under Thailand’s narcotics and cannabis control laws.
Less than a week earlier, on July 1, two 26-year-old Uzbek nationals were arrested after airport X-ray screening uncovered a combined 31.5kg of cannabis flowers, cannabis resin and processed cannabis hidden in their luggage.
While Sakhu Police have credited closer cooperation between Customs and security agencies and increased baggage screening for the recent arrests, they have not offered any explanation for the apparent surge in attempts to smuggle cannabis out of Phuket, nor why foreign nationals departing the island have become increasingly involved in the cases.