Cops seize B500m crystal meth haul

Smugglers switching to Northeast border

Anti-narcotic officials seized more than 500 kilogrammes of crystal meth worth 500 million baht after a raid at a spot along the Mekong River in Mukdahan province on Saturday night.

The smugglers, however, fled the scene and are still at large, police said.

“If the smuggling operation succeeded, these narcotics would have been traded at one million baht per kilogramme. The price goes up 100-200% more on the black market,” Second Army commander Thanya Kiatsarn said yesterday.

Lt Gen Thanya said the raid took place at a section of river in tambon Bang Sai Noi in Wan Yai district.

Following a tip-off, the team comprising of local police, soldiers of the 2nd Region Army and staff from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) launched a stakeout at the pickup spot and found a long tail boat with five men on board.

The men spotted the officers and quickly fled. Police searched the boat and found piles of fertiliser sacks. The goods were a stockpile of ya ice or crystal meth weighing 542kg.

The crystal meth pills bad been put into 22 fertiliser bags. They were divided into denominated plastic packages, with signs reading “Guan Yin Wang” in English and Chinese characters on the bags.

Officials are tracking down the origin of the drugs. They suspect they might have been produced in China before being smuggled via the Mekong River into Thailand.

Lt Gen Thanya said he was concerned about more drugs coming into Thailand because the low tide on the Mekong River is conducive for drug smuggling operations.

He said the northeastern border has become new hot spot for drug smuggling.

Drug smugglers enter Thailand via the Thai-Lao border after authorities intensified crackdowns on their usual drug smuggling route and production hub on the western border between Thailand and Myanmar.

In a recent haul, authorities confiscated more than 4 million ya ba pills.