British tourist, 23, arrested in Thailand for ‘drug smuggling’ attended £70k-a-year private school

Brit George Wilson has denied any knowledge of the suitcase’s contents after 9.1kg of crystal meth was found as family friends speak of their shock at his alleged involvement

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The young British tourist accused of attempting to smuggle^[1] a suitcase full of crystal meth out of Thailand is a former pupil of a £70,000-a-year school once attended by The Duchess of York.

George Wilson, 23, was found with 9.1kg of the class A drug in a Bangkok hotel room, according to officials. The man, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, is said to have received the stash of methamphetamine from another Brit at a hotel in the red-light area of the city on Monday evening.

Officers then swooped on the suspect’s hotel room and arrested him. The Foreign Office confirmed it is “in contact with the Thai authorities following the arrest of a British man”. Thai police said on social media that their “investigation team received a tip-off that a group of foreigners were planning a narcotics handover at the hotel”.

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A family friend has told the Daily Mail^[2] that Mr Wilson attended the plush £22,000-a-term Hurst Lodge School in Surrey, and also has links to music giants Iron Maiden. They said: “It’s astonishing that someone from such a well-heeled background could find himself caught up in this. No one could believe it when we saw the reports of George’s arrest.”

Another confirmed his family live in a high desirable area, next to the river Thames and that the suspect “doesn’t even drink, let alone have any involvement in drugs”. It is reported that relatives discovered the news of the arrest in Thailand while on a cruise around the world.

In a video of the arrest, the Brit can be heard telling police he had been in Thailand for “two weeks” and when asked what is in his bag, he replies: “I don’t know.” However, officers then open the case and after looking under a pair of flip-flops and a white towel, they uncover 10 green foil bags of Chinese tea concealing methamphetamine. “I don’t know what it is,” the suspect says again.

Footage shows officers opening the packages to reveal the drugs on camera as evidence, before performing a quick chemical test to prove it is methamphetamine. The tourist has been held in custody and will appear in court tomorrow.

Lieutenant Colonel Noppha Thongbo, from the Lumpini district station, said: “He was arrested on September 29 at 6pm. He is currently in police custody and will be taken to the Bangkok South Criminal Court tomorrow for detention in prison.”

Mr Wilson allegedly told police that he received a pink suitcase from a British drugs runner named “Snoopy”. He allegedly received 20,000 THB (£460) for his role in the chain. Thai police claimed he was due to carry the narcotics through Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport and onto the destination country, where another gang members was due to meet him.

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But officers had been tracking the suspects for a number of days following intelligence gathered from their movements, they added. After police checked CCTV footage at the hotel and confirmed that the packages had been delivered, an arrest warrant was obtained from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) to search the hotel room. Cops allegedly found 9,152.3 grams of crystal methamphetamine, known locally as “Ice”, packaged in foil bags used for tea.

Officers said the meth is suspected to have been produced at drugs labs in civil-war-ravaged Myanmar before arriving in Thailand – a notorious transit hub for illegal activities. Colonel Siranawitcha Intorn, Superintendent of the Crime Suppression Division, Metropolitan Police Bureau Division 5, said the suspect “has been charged with distributing Category 1 narcotics, specifically methamphetamine or ice, with intent to sell in violation of the law, which constitutes a commercial act that contributes to the spread of the drug among the public.”

He added: “We believe he was part of a cross-border drug smuggling network, which is very serious. The amount of drugs seized was also very large. The highest levels of the Royal Thai Police have coordinated to make the arrest.”