Crime
Drug Distribution Network Busted 8 Million Meth Pills Seized
Narcotics suppression police have seized 8 million meth pills and arrested seven suspects at an abandoned warehouse in northeastern Thailand on Tuesday.
The action followed an investigation by narcotics suppression police into a drug network run by Long Sae Lee. Mr Long fled Thailand to a neighboring country after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Thai Media reported.
Narcotics suppression police investigators said they learned that a shipment of drugs would be delivered from Chiang Kham district in northern Thailand’s Phayao province to an old warehouse in Pathum Thani.
About 8am, police began following a car and a black pickup truck, which went to the warehouse in Pathum Thani.
Narcotics suppression police moved in on the premises and arrested five men and two woman. They seized four million meth pills found in the two vehicles. A second pickup was found near the warehouse, and another four million meth pills were found in it.
The five arrested men are Kriskorn Prachumpan, 39, Ekarat Ratwiang, 39, Sarawut Amcheen, 41, Ek Madee, 24, and Nathapol Khemphet, 22. The women are Suleeporn Sae Ling, 40, and Thitinan Maidad, 37.
They were initially charged with having illicit drugs in their possession with intent to sell.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) the scale of the problem in Thailand alone is enormous. The number of methamphetamine tablets seized last year in the country — 515 million — exceeded the combined seizures reported from all countries in the region in any preceding year
In short, more and more people are getting hooked, and more will die, unless Asia Pacific can work together to stop the scourge from getting any worse.
“The problem is getting worse and indications are that 2019 is worse than 2018 and that’s bad because 2018 was a record bad year,” Jeremy Douglas, the Bangkok-based regional representative of the UNODC, told CTN News.
