A Latvian tourist was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle heroin through an airport in Thailand.

Guntars Lukstins, 71, was reportedly caught with 6.6 pounds of the narcotics at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport servicing Bangkok on June 22.

Police said the tourist had arrived on Thai Airways flight TG571 from Vientiane, Laos and was due to fly to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia 80 minutes later.

Authorities detained Guntars following a tip-off that a tourist was intending to use Thailand as a transit point to smuggle drugs.

Officers searched his luggage and found sausage-shaped packages stuffed in the steel frame of a camping bed. Chemical testing confirmed the plastic-wrapped logs contained heroin.

Police Major General Cherngron Rimphadee, commander of Immigration Division 2, said: ‘The suspect was unable to speak in English and refused to testify. We believe he had collected the drugs from Laos because he did not have checked-in baggage during the outbound trip, but had 19.8 pounds (9 kilos) of checked baggage during the return trip.

‘We handed him over to the Customs Department's Investigation and Suppression Division for further legal proceedings.'

Heroin is classified as a category 1 substance in Thailand.

Under Thai law, using category 1 substances may be punished with up to three years in jail and a fine of up to 60,000 baht, while possession carries a fine of up to 200,000 baht and up to 10 years imprisonment.

Those convicted of dealing may face life imprisonment and a five million baht fine, depending on the amount involved. Producers, importers, and exporters of Category 1 substances face the same charges and may face the death penalty if it is proven their intent was to sell or distribute on a large scale.