Illicit drugs worth over Bt 1.7 billion have been seized in Chiang Rai District in northern Thailand and the drugs are believed to be smuggled from Myanmar.
The Thai anti-narcotic police and joint team seized the drugs which were smuggled via the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area – the border area between Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos.
The Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau told the press on April 3 that the large amount of drugs was seized after tightening security and making patrols along the Thai border including Tachileik border based on reports from neighboring countries.
“The seized drugs are from the Northern Wa group and two drug groups. There is a plan to smuggle drugs from the borders during the Thingyan (Songkran) [Water Festival]. That’s why we have been tightening the security and doing inspections at the border area and exchanging information with neighboring countries in order to seize these drugs,” a Thai police official said during the press conference.
The drugs were found during a search on two suspicious vehicles in Ban Thai Charoen Village in Wiang Kaen district of Chiang Rai province at around 10:30 pm on April 2.
The police seized 9.4 million methamphetamine pills called Yaba and 788 kilogram of crystal meth called Ya Ice inside 47 sacks.
Two men and one woman are being investigated on suspicion after the drugs were seized and anyone found in connection with the drugs will be arrested on drug possession charges and illegal smuggling and their properties will also be seized.
Some Thai media reported that the seized drugs originated from ethnic armed groups in Myanmar and they were being smuggled to Malaysia via Thailand to make further distributions to other countries in order to buy arms with the money earned from selling the drugs.
Yaba has been often seized by the Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau in the Golden Triangle area including the Thai-Myanmar border. The recent drug bust is the largest drug bust in 2018.
