Malaysian pop star nabbed in drug bust in southern Thailand

A well-known Malaysian pop singer has been arrested after more than 6,000 methamphetamine tablets were found in Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat, police said on Monday.
Wan Norshaheeda Azlin Binti Wan Ismail, 29, widely known as Eda Ezrin, was nabbed on Friday in a hotel in Sungai Kolok district.
She was arrested with five other Malaysians: Mohamad Alif bin Deraman, 32; Mohd Affendi bin Ahmad, 34; Nur Aida binti Mamat, 32; Erdieka bin Mohd Noor, 31; and Zuhaira Nasrin, 25.
The group was found with 6,060 methamphetamine tablets.
Although no one claimed possession of the drugs, all six suspects tested positive for drug use, according to a police source.
The suspects have now been charged with possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, considered a Type 1 narcotic drug, and using the illicit drug, police said.
They were brought to court on Monday.
The police also charged two suspects with illegal entry into the kingdom as their passports weren’t properly stamped by Malaysian or Thai immigration authorities.
About 100 fans of the singer and relatives of the six suspects gathered outside Sungai Kolok police station on Monday, where they were scheduled to be brought to the Narathiwat provincial court.
About 50 crowd-control police officers were deployed at the police station.
A local source said that plain-clothes Malaysian police officers and Malaysian journalists were seen among the crowd outside the police station.
The source said these officers came to Narathiwat to observe the Thai police’s handling of the case.
An unnamed Malaysian officer told the source that authorities in the neighbouring country have long pursued one of the six suspects, who they believed was involved in drug dealing.