An Australian Hells Angels bikie and his wife have been sentenced to death in Thailand for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine into the country.
Luke Joshua Cook, 34, and Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, were arrested at the Bangkok international airport in December last year after arriving off a flight from Australia following a tip off from local police, Daily Telegraph reported.
Thai courts sentenced the pair to death after they attempted to smuggle the drugs with an estimated street value of $300million.
Luke Joshua Cook, 34, and Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, were arrested at the Bangkok international airport in December last year
Thai courts sentenced the pair to death after they attempted to smuggle ice, with an estimated street value of $300million (pictured Luke Joshua Cook)
Personal assets including luxury cars, bikes, guns, money and houses worth $800,000 were forfeited by police (pictured Luke Joshua Cook)
However, their sentences are expected to be commuted to a life sentence.
Personal assets including luxury cars, bikes, guns, money and houses worth $800,000 were forfeited by police.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed they are ‘providing consular assistance to an Australian in Thailand’.
The Australian gang member was detained by immigration officials as local authorities continued their crack down against Hells Angels in a city known for its sex industry and international crime syndicates.
Cook is accused of smuggling ice from a boat off the Thailand coast where he reportedly threw a large amount of the drug overboard after spotting a patrol boat, according to local media.
Police reportedly later found 50 kilograms of the drug washed ashore and issued arrest warrants for the couple.
‘It is a big transnational crime organisation which is just escalating its operations in Thailand,’ Major General Apichat Sirisith told media at the time.
Authorities also allege Cook was given an eye-watering $15million by Hells Angels boss Wayne Schneider to store and then ship the drugs to Australia.
Authorities also alleged Cook was given an eye-watering $15million by Hells Angels boss Wayne Schneider (pictured) to store and then ship the drugs to Australia
Cook also believed to have helped convicted murderer Antonio Bagnato (pictured), 28, escape to Cambodia
Schneider demanded his money back following the failed operation, but was then brutally murdered by members of the Hells Angels gang.
His naked body was found mutilated and covered in bruises, lacerations and ligature in a shallow grave in Pattaya.
Cook was convicted of Schneider’s murder and was handed a two-year suspended sentence.
He is also believed to have helped convicted murderer Antonio Bagnato, 28, escape to Cambodia where he was arrested earlier that year.
Bagnato was sentenced in a Thai court to death after hiring four men to kill Schneider.
An inquest heard Schneider was bound to a chair and bashed to death.
Bagnato was also wanted over the murder of racing identity Bradley Dillon in Leichardt in August 2014 over a debt owed, the publication reported.
Bagnato (pictured) was sentenced in a Thai court to death after hiring four men to kill Schneider