Australian man and Thai wife sentenced to death over $300m drug bust

A Perth man and his Thai wife have been sentenced to death in Thailand on drug smuggling charges, according to a media report.

Luke Cook, 34, and wife Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, were arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport last December and charged with attempting to smuggle half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine into Thailand and on to Australia in 2015.

A Thai court sentenced the Hells Angels bikie, who is said to be a father of two from WA, and his wife to death over the plot, The West Australian reports. The sentences are expected to be commuted to life, the paper says.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian in Thailand, a spokeswoman comfirmed.

It's believed the smuggled crystal meth, also known as ice and with an estimated street value of $300 million, was dumped into the sea from a boat off the southeastern province of Chonburi after being spotted by authorities. About 50kg later washed ashore, police said.

At the time of their arrest, Police Lieutenant General Sommai Kongwisaisuk of the Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau said Cook was a member of the Hells Angels gang in Pattaya, a city 150 kilometres from Bangkok that is known for its booming sex industry and as a haven for international criminal networks.

Cook, owner of the Piss Stop Bar in Pattaya, was convicted in 2016 of helping Australian kick-boxer and former Sydney businessman Antonio Bagnato flee Thailand after he murdered Wayne Schneider, another Hells Angels member and prominent figure of Sydney's underworld, in 2016.

Cook, who drove Bagnato in a private car to the Cambodian border after the killing, was convicted in a Thai court of aiding and abetting a crime and sentenced to three months jail, which was suspended for two years.

AAP with Lindsay Murdoch

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