Crime
Pha Muang Task Force Seizes 4 Million Meth Pills in Northern Thailand
Police said in a press briefing on Friday that Pha Muang Task Force soldiers had seized 4 million meth pills from a pick up truck in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
Chiang Mai Police said investigators found 40 green backpacks, each containing 50 bundles of methamphetamine pills, an equivalent to 4 million pills in total.
At the press briefing, the driver admitted that he had been hired to deliver the drugs.
Police said they have collected some information but were unable to reveal them as they were extending the investigation to find others involved.
The seizure followed a tip-off that a young man was preparing to transport drugs from a hilltribe village in Fang district of Chiang Mai to other areas of the province through the Pha Hong checkpoint.
Officers said the driver appeared pale and shaky on seeing them at the checkpoint, which prompted them to stop and search the vehicle.
Meth Floods Through Thailand after Lockdowns Eased
Thailand’s Anti-drug Tsar has told a press briefing three weeks ago that crystal meth has once again begun to flooding into Thailand despite Myanmar resent crack down. Covid-19 cause smuggling delays in narcotics production but they have since revamped.
Thailand Secretary-General of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Niyom Termsrisuk said drug traffickers have been smuggling large quantities of crystal meth recently to unload stock which had become stuck in the country due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
“As the government started to relax Covid-19 measures, drugs from the the Golden Triangle have made a return. Smuggling had been obstructed by national lockdowns as well as Myanmar’s heavy crackdown on production,” Mr Niyom said.
So far for the 2020 fiscal year, 11 tons of crystal meth have been seized by authorities. He believe that most consignments were en route to third countries such as; Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Thailand a hub for meth and crystal meth transport
“Thailand’s geography, with its borders adjacent to drug production sites in the Golden Triangle, and its status as a hub that connects land, air and maritime transport make it hard for the country to avoid being used as a route to smuggle crystal meth to other regions,” said the secretary-general.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has noted that Thailand and countries in the Mekong sub-region are facing more severe narcotic problems. Especially with crystal meth. Above all due to the expansion of synthetic drug manufacture in the region.
The Golden Triangle is now the world’s leading producer of meth as production has shifted to Yaba and crystal meth. Including for export to the United States and across East and Southeast Asia.
According to the ONCB’s operation centre, only 10.8 tons of crystal meth were seized in the whole of the 2019.
