CHIANG RAI – Police, local and provincial in Chiang Rai Province, have taken strong action to tackle crime, launching “Shut Down the City to Stop Criminals and Dismantle Gangs” since 14 June.
In just a few days, police seized over 8 million meth pills, along with other drugs such as crystal meth, opium and heroin. Officers also confiscated firearms, ammunition and dozens of modified motorbikes and noisy exhaust pipes.
On Thursday, Chiang Rai’s governor, Charin Thongsuk, and Provincial Police Commander, Pol Maj Gen Manop Senakul, announced the results. The crime sweep led to 126 drug cases and 105 suspects arrested. Officers recovered 8,088,233 meth pills, 11.53 grams of crystal meth, 116.66 grams of opium and 10.1 grams of heroin.
In cases related to firearms, police arrested 71 people and seized 68 guns. These included six registered handguns and 64 unregistered weapons, which were mostly shotguns and rifles. A total of 225 bullets were also collected as evidence.
Officers also arrested 177 suspects wanted on warrants. These included 62 cases under the Computer Crime Act, 39 for online banking scams, 31 for general crime, five for illegal weapons and 36 for drugs. Four serious criminal cases were solved during the operation.
Police also impounded 512 motorbikes, including 335 that had been modified, and 620 illegal exhaust pipes.
Pol Maj Gen Manop stressed that police will work with local authorities at subdistrict, village and community levels to manage issues with youth gangs and motorbike noise.
If problems continue in any area, local leaders will have to take responsibility alongside the police until the issues are resolved.
