Drug-linked assets worth over B1bn seized from gang

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has seized over one billion baht worth of assets belonging to members of a major drug smuggling network in the North, ONCB secretary-general Wichai Chaimongkol said yesterday.

According to Mr Wichai, the network routinely trafficked heroin produced in Myanmar’s Golden Triangle to Malaysia via Thailand.

The asset seizures followed three different operations which took place earlier this year.

On Feb 3, Narcotics Suppression Bureau officers arrested two suspects with 100 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice”, and 381 meth pills in their possession in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.

Then on Feb 18, ONCB officials along with Region 5 police officers arrested three suspects and seized 100 slabs of heroin in Nan. From them, Mr Wichai said, authorities seized 34.9 million baht worth of drug-related assets.

Mr Wichai said an expanded investigation led to the third raid, which was carried out yesterday morning. While he said authorities seized 37 million baht worth of assets, he declined to provide details of the raid.

He said arrest warrants have been issued for 10 suspects, five of whom have been apprehended.

In total, authorities had seized a total of 1.066 billion baht worth of assets, Mr Wichai said, though he stopped short of giving a full breakdown.

An investigation is currently ongoing to locate the leaders of the drug network, the operators of the heroin plant in Myanmar and the gang’s agents in Malaysia, he said.

Mr Wichai said from October last year to July 5 this year, authorities have seized a total of 5.658 billion baht worth of assets, which they believed were acquired through the drug trade — about 341 million baht short of the 6-billion-baht target the police force had set.

More assets are expected to be seized by the end of September, the end of the financial year, so the target is likely to be met, he added.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin, who also attended the press conference on the drug seizures, said the government’s target of seizing 6 billion baht in drug assets reflects a tenfold increase from previous targets.