Narcotics Control Officials Construct Barbed Wire Fence along the Thai-Myanmar Border in Chiang Rai’s

Soldiers lay a 8,465-metre-long barbed-wire fence along the Thai- Myanmar border in Chiang Rai’sMaeSai district opposite Tachilek inMyanmar. KING-OUALAOHONG

 

CHIANGRAI TIMES –Drug traffickers are having hard time to sell illegal substances though traditional channels in Thailand as the government of Yingluck Shinawatra has been active since in power to eradicate this plague.

Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) is working with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to prevent illegal drug selling using social networks.

A Narcotics Control Board official and armed soldiers stand next to theMekong River whileinspecting areas where drug smugglers land.

According to the office, Traffickers have adapted to new technologies and started using social networks to trade with potential customers, targeting mainly youngsters.

The move came after the police arrested university students selling methamphetamine pills on known social network and seized almost 1,000 pills.

The office of narcotics is working on finding the source of the drugs sold on social networks as young people are considered a high risk and vulnerable group.

Authorities are about to launch an online public campaign, urging the population to help monitor and alert the police on illegal online drug trading.

In addition, the government announced that an 8,465 meter string of barbed wire along the Thai-Myanmar border in The Northern province of Chiang Rai is being constructed to scare off smugglers and traffickers and make their illegal trade more difficult to carry on.

Experts say the wire fence could drive smugglers to change tactics and fear a surge in violence. This is a multi million business, once the fence is completed, smugglers might try to transport their illicit shipments in caravans, guarded by armed men and targeting not well controlled border points to protect their cargo at any price