A Thai passenger was arrested for allegedly smuggling cocaine worth half-a-million dollars hidden inside dolls from Cambodia into Thailand.

Housewife Chamaiporn Singthong, 30, was detained at a border checkpoint in eastern Sa Kaeo province, on January 21. She was flagged by a facial recognition system that found she was the subject of an arrest warrant for a previous drug smuggling case.

Police checked her suitcase and discovered 14lbs of cocaine sealed in hundreds of small parcels and stuffed into four large rag dolls. They said it was worth 470,000 USD.

Police Colonel Naphatpong Suphaporn, superintendent of the provincial immigration bureau, said it was the biggest drug arrest at the checkpoint.

He said: 'Ms. Chamaiporn traveled from Cambodia into Thailand. The biometric system was able to detect that she had an arrest warrant for drugs from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board 2, so we arrested her.

'While searching her luggage, police found 656 blocks of cocaine weighing more than 6 kg and estimated to be worth more than 16 million baht. The Sa Kaeo Immigration Bureau will take the suspect and the evidence to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board 2 for prosecution and further investigation.'

Chamaiporn said her Nigerian husband had paid her 100,000 baht (2,940 USD) to deliver the contraband into Thailand. The drugs were reportedly destined for entertainment venues in Bangkok to be sold for 2,500 baht (74 USD) per gramme.

She claimed two other people, including her husband, were involved in the smuggling operation.

Authorities said they were expanding the investigation into the suspected drug network.

Cocaine is classified as a 'category 2' narcotic under Thai law. Importers, producers, and exporters face jail sentences, with the most severe being life behind bars.

(1 USD = 33.96 THB)