Narcotics Suppression Police Take Down Heroin Trafficking Gang

Thailand Narcotics suppression police have sought arrest warrant against four suspects of a transnational heroin trafficking gang after a thorough investigation. Warrants being sought against two Thais and two foreign nationals.

The warrants come after an investigation led to the to the seizure of 314 kilograms of heroin destined for Australia.

A narcotics suppression police investigation came after a Task Force seized 314kg of heroin hidden in 135 paint buckets at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri, Thailand.

Office of the Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Wichai Chaimongkhon said customs officials at the port discovered something suspicious during an X-ray scan.

A further investigation found the heroin was trafficked from the Golden Triangle through a border in Northeastern Thailand and was destined for Australia.

Narcotics suppression police later discovered the shipment was linked to a previous trafficking attempt, in which the drugs were stuffed in motorcycle tires bound for Taiwan and Australia.

The suspects were likely connected with a transnational network in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Australia.

Meanwhile, Northern Thailand’s Pha Muang Army task force said it clashed with a drug runners at the Thailand-Myanmar border, leading to a seizure of 600,000 meth pills and 8kg of opium in Chiang Mai province.

Pha Muang Force commander Maj Gen Narit Thawornwong said the forces were scouring the border when they encountered 7-8 drug runners trying to cross a natural border into Thailand.

They ordered the drug runners to stop leading to both sides exchanged gun fire for about five minutes. The drug runners then fled into the jungle, leaving the drugs in six backpacks.

Police Maj Gen Narit told CTN News that drug suppression forces have been beefed up along the northern borders in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai as drug traffickers attempted to break through the North due to movement restrictions and lockdown measures in Laos.

The notorious Golden Triangle remains the source of most of the drugs trafficked in the region, and the trade has been thriving despite the covid-19 pandemic.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime also noted in a recent report that more shipments, especially those involving methamphetamines, are coming into Thailand via Laos instead of Myanmar as before.