CHIANG RAI – Police coordinated with Phrae officers to stop a group suspected of sending parcels packed with methamphetamine. The team arrested three suspects after the group sent over a million meth pills through a logistics company before heading south in a sedan.
On July 25, police held a press conference naming three arrested men: Rattathammanoon, 26, from Krathum Baen in Samut Sakhon, Nathee, 26, from Bang Rakam in Phitsanulok, and Thana, 25, from Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan. Officers seized 1,098,000 meth pills, one car, and six phones.
Police started tracking the gang after getting tips about drug shipments using a parcel service in Rimkok, Chiang Rai. On July 23, they found seven suspicious boxes dropped off at a shipping company in Ban Santan Lueang, Rimkok.
When they checked with the business, the senders had already left.
With permission from the logistics company, the police opened the boxes. Inside, they found tightly packed bundles of methamphetamine, totalling more than a million pills.
Officers found that these parcels came from two nearby branch offices: four boxes from the Ban Mai branch and three from the Wat Rong Suea Ten branch. The suspects used a grey Toyota sedan with Bangkok plates and drove toward central Thailand after finishing their parcel drop.
Police in Chiang Rai alerted officers at the Huai Rai drug checkpoint in Den Chai district, Phrae, and the suspects were stopped and arrested with all evidence. The group faces charges under drug laws and remains in custody.
Chiang Rai, located in Thailand’s far north near the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos converge, is a significant hub for drug trafficking due to its proximity to Myanmar’s Shan State, a major source of methamphetamine and heroin.
Recent Incidents and Seizures:
July 2025 Busts: Chiang Rai police reported five major drug busts, seizing 6.9 million methamphetamine pills across cases involving parcel services and border smuggling.
January 2025 Clash: A skirmish near the Doi Pha Mi border in Mae Sai resulted in four trafficker deaths and the seizure of 34 sacks of crystal meth.
June 2025: Over a ton of methamphetamine was seized in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, highlighting the scale of trafficking through border routes.
Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and lawlessness in Shan State fuel production, with non-state armed groups funding operations through drug profits. Laos’s Bokeo province, with its King’s Romans casino, is also a hub for related criminal activities.
According to the UNODC, Poverty and lack of alternative livelihoods drive local involvement in trafficking, particularly among low-level couriers. Efforts like the Mae Fah Luang Foundation promote sustainable agriculture to reduce reliance on the drug trade.
