Army pledges to stamp out drugs

The authorities have claimed success in confiscating a huge amount of drugs, including 30 million methamphetamine pills and 390 kilogrammes of heroin over the past month.

Based on their success, they have vowed to continue their drug operations until the narcotics scourge is completely under control.

The army-led operation, which began three months ago, mainly targets border areas in order to prevent drugs from being smuggled into Thailand.

In addition to the speed pills, authorities also seized various other narcotics including heroin, deputy army spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said yesterday.

She quoted army chief Apirat Kongsompong as saying the outcome of the operation satisfied Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who thanked all agencies for their joint efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon stressed that the crackdowns must continue as drug traffickers i n neighbouring countries are still waiting to smuggle new batches of drugs into Thailand, according to defence spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanich. Border areas in the North and Northeast must be closely monitored as they are frequently used as smuggling routes, Lt Gen Kongcheep said. More measures will be launched to tackle drug trafficking, Col Sirichan added.

They include increased patrols and searches along certain roads within the country as well as checks on parcels.

In another related development, border patrol police have also arrested 49 drug suspects and confiscated more than 5,000 speed pills in their criminal crackdowns between Nov 1 and Nov 7.