poledriver
Bluelighter
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- Jul 21, 2005
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Is this Australian drug fugitive Lisa Marie Smith hanging out in Dublin?
A FUGITIVE Aussie woman on the run for 18 years after she fled Thailand while facing drug charges and a possible death sentence has been tracked down in Ireland, according to British newspaper The Sun.
A woman who the newspaper says is Lisa Marie Smith, now 38, was photographed over the weekend at the trendy Dublin cafe she runs with her boyfriend.
Smith, raised as an only child in Melbourne and Tasmania before moving to England as a teenager, sparked a global manhunt when she fled Thailand in 1996 — and is still on Interpol’s most wanted list.
But investigators for the British tabloid paper have reportedly found her working at Hippetys cafe in Dublin’s busy Temple Bar area.
Smith was just 20 when she was nabbed at Bangkok airport with a backpack full of drugs.
She made headlines worldwide after her arrest when she was pictured holding a card with her name and charges.
The frightened young woman told Thai police, who had been tipped off, that she had been conned into taking the bag as a favour for “Hassan”, a Pakistani scammer.
It was claimed she was set up as a distraction from a larger smuggling operation.
After initially facing a possible death sentence over the drugs, Smith then spent almost five months in the notorious “Bangkok Hilton” jail awaiting trial for smuggling hash and amphetamines.
But her insurance businessman father Terence then arranged for her to be released on $74,000 bail, and she disappeared soon after.
Now The Sun reports she arrives at the popular cafe most mornings, often staying until late in the evening.
She spends most of her time serving behind the counter, leaving staff to deal with the customers.
The Sun’s photos also show the woman it claims is Smith chatting and smoking outside the coffee shop, where she socialises with pals who are mostly unaware of her past.
A source told the newspaper: “It is extraordinary that she is living here and running a business. She has been here for 15 years and has always been a party girl.
“She obviously thinks Dublin is safe, she’s so comfortable she uses her real name, but it’s amazing she has gone undetected for so long.
“She has become a bit careless, talking about her past and appearing in pictures on the internet.”
Terence, 66, who still has close links to Australia and may own a house in one of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, is listed as one of the Dublin cafe’s two directors.
The woman reportedly refused to talk about her past when confronted by The Sun, but did not flinch when the paper asked her about the Interpol listing.
The newspaper said she answered: “Give me your number and I will call you.”
She was then driven away by her partner.
The paper reported Irish police contacted Interpol after The Sun alerted them to Smith, but no action had been taken due to the political crisis in Thailand.
A source said: “The authorities do not have an extradition treaty with Thailand, and will not want to turn her over to a country with martial law.”
http://www.news.com.au/national/is-...ng-out-in-dublin/story-e6frfkp9-1226980152702
A FUGITIVE Aussie woman on the run for 18 years after she fled Thailand while facing drug charges and a possible death sentence has been tracked down in Ireland, according to British newspaper The Sun.
A woman who the newspaper says is Lisa Marie Smith, now 38, was photographed over the weekend at the trendy Dublin cafe she runs with her boyfriend.
Smith, raised as an only child in Melbourne and Tasmania before moving to England as a teenager, sparked a global manhunt when she fled Thailand in 1996 — and is still on Interpol’s most wanted list.
But investigators for the British tabloid paper have reportedly found her working at Hippetys cafe in Dublin’s busy Temple Bar area.
Smith was just 20 when she was nabbed at Bangkok airport with a backpack full of drugs.
She made headlines worldwide after her arrest when she was pictured holding a card with her name and charges.
The frightened young woman told Thai police, who had been tipped off, that she had been conned into taking the bag as a favour for “Hassan”, a Pakistani scammer.
It was claimed she was set up as a distraction from a larger smuggling operation.
After initially facing a possible death sentence over the drugs, Smith then spent almost five months in the notorious “Bangkok Hilton” jail awaiting trial for smuggling hash and amphetamines.
But her insurance businessman father Terence then arranged for her to be released on $74,000 bail, and she disappeared soon after.
Now The Sun reports she arrives at the popular cafe most mornings, often staying until late in the evening.
She spends most of her time serving behind the counter, leaving staff to deal with the customers.
The Sun’s photos also show the woman it claims is Smith chatting and smoking outside the coffee shop, where she socialises with pals who are mostly unaware of her past.
A source told the newspaper: “It is extraordinary that she is living here and running a business. She has been here for 15 years and has always been a party girl.
“She obviously thinks Dublin is safe, she’s so comfortable she uses her real name, but it’s amazing she has gone undetected for so long.
“She has become a bit careless, talking about her past and appearing in pictures on the internet.”
Terence, 66, who still has close links to Australia and may own a house in one of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, is listed as one of the Dublin cafe’s two directors.
The woman reportedly refused to talk about her past when confronted by The Sun, but did not flinch when the paper asked her about the Interpol listing.
The newspaper said she answered: “Give me your number and I will call you.”
She was then driven away by her partner.
The paper reported Irish police contacted Interpol after The Sun alerted them to Smith, but no action had been taken due to the political crisis in Thailand.
A source said: “The authorities do not have an extradition treaty with Thailand, and will not want to turn her over to a country with martial law.”
http://www.news.com.au/national/is-...ng-out-in-dublin/story-e6frfkp9-1226980152702
