Thai Airways hostess arrested smuggling heroin into Australia

PUBLISHED : 29 Jun 2026 at 15:22

Thai Airways International has pledged full cooperation with Australian authorities after a Thai air hostess was arrested and heroin seized from her bags at Melbourne airport.

The airline said in a Facebook post on Monday it would fully cooperate with Australian officials in their investigation.

The 26-year-old woman was arrested after a kilogramme of heroin was found concealed in her luggage after she arrived at Melbourne airport on Thursday. She was carrying 12 tote bags. The heroin was in the lining.

The carrier said it is working with officials in Thailand and Australia in establishing the facts of the case.

The arrest was disclosed by Australian Federal Police on Monday but the agency did not release the airline's name, the woman's name or job position other than Thai airline crew member.

THAI later posted online confirming the woman was an employee, a member of the flight cabin crew.

The airline said it has a strict prohibition on pilots or cabin crew possessing or trafficking in drugs or any other illegal items and regularly reminded them before they went on duty. Violators faced stern disciplinary action, in addition to any criminal action.

The Public Relations Department said the incident involved flight TG465 and the arrest came after a sniffer dog checked her luggage. A search found the kilogramme of heroin in her possession.

Reports said it was hidden in the tote bag linings and had an estimated street value of A$500,00 (11.5 million baht).

Flight TG465 left Suvarnabhumi airport at 7.40pm on Wednesday last week and landed at 7.04am Melbourne time the next day, according to the flight tracker Flight Aware.