American Drug Lord Arrested in Thailand

An American described as one of Southeast Asia's 'leading drug lords' has been arrested in the Thai resort city of Phuket, according to Daily Mail.

Police in Thailand busted Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48, and five accomplices - including two Brits - Wednesday after an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Hunter, who served in the U.S. Navy, led a 'big network' of drug trafficking that operated in Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, according to Thai police General Priewphan Damapong. 

DEA agents pointed him out to Thai police at the Phuket Country Club. The Thai officers then swooped in and arrested him. All six suspects - two Brits, a Slovak, a Filipino and a Taiwanese - have been named on a U.S. arrest warrant and were expected to be deported to New York, where the warrant was issued, Somyot said. 

He did not give a time frame for the transfer. Thai police claimed Hunter had been in the U.S. Navy, but a Navy spokeswoman told MailOnline it has no record of him serving. Police said his alleged accomplices were believed to have had military training, as well. 'All these people were trained to kill,' Thai deputy police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang told reporters at a police airport in Bangkok, where the suspects were flown Thursday from Phuket. He said the DEA contacted Thai authorities several months ago to say that Hunter was believed to be hiding in Phuket. 

Hunter regularly traveled around the region and last entered Thailand from the Philippines on September 6, Somyot said. U.S. Embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler in Bangkok said he could not immediately comment on the case and referred questions to Washington.