Cook (right) and wife. (photo No. 9)
A member of the "Hell Angel" (Hells Angels) motorist from Perth and his Thai-born wife were sentenced to death in Thailand for attempting to smuggle half a ton of methamphetamine into Australia, Radio 9 reported.
In December, Cook (Luke Cook), 34, and his Thai-born wife, 40, were arrested at Bangkok`s Suwanapu airport and charged with conspiring to smuggle methamphetamine, estimated to have a market value of 3 million, to Australia in 2015.
Thai courts have sentenced the Cook couple to death, but are expected to commute to life imprisonment, media sources said today.
A (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) spokesman for Australia`s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment, but said Australia`s government would provide consular assistance to an Australian in Thailand.
"given our obligation to protect privacy, we will not comment further," the spokesman said in a statement.
Cook has been accused of boarding a yacht to help transport drug from China to Thailand.
The drug-related goods were found by the Thai authorities and abandoned in (Chonburi Province)., Chonburi province, southeast Thailand
The drug, weighing about 50 kilograms, was packed in four bags and washed up to the (Mae Ramphueng Beach) shore of Opal Beach in (Rayong Province), Loyong House, in June 2015.
Thai authorities say Hell Angels paid Cook $10 million to buy and smuggle drug for shipment to Australia.
Thai police in the investigation, including a number of luxury vehicles confiscated assets.
Cook and his wife used to run a charter company, Global Marine Solutions., according to police. They are associated with Sydney`s "angel of hell" members and drug-related agent Schneider (Wayne Schneider). Schneider was killed in Thailand in November 2015.
Schneider is believed to have paid Cook to smuggle 500 kilograms of methamphetamine into Thailand before distributing the drug elsewhere.
