Police Catch Drug Syndicate Couriers With Eight Million Meth Pills

Police in central Thailand’s Lopburi Province have arrested four suspected drug syndicate drug runners and seized million meth pills seized from their two vehicles. They were apprehended at a PT petrol station in Phatthana Nikhom district of Lop Buri.

A police spokesperson said they were traveling together in two vehicles a Honda Jazz car and a Toyota Revo pickup truck. A search of the vehicles found 21 sacks containing a total of 8.41 million speed pills in the two vehicles.

The arresting police officers were acting on information received after arrests in several other major drug cases in Bangkok. The information led them the gang that allegedly moved drugs from the Northeast to customers in the Central Plains.

According to the police spokesperson the gang often used Highway 21 as a smuggling route.

Investigators had closely monitored their activities when they had travelled to Nong Khai on June 28. Officers believed they went there to pick up drugs.

On June 29, the two vehicles were seen in Phetchabun province and were tracked to a PTT petrol station in Phatthana Nikhom district, Lop Buri, on Tuesday morning. A search of the two vehicle led to the seizure of 8.41 million meth pills.

During questioning, the suspects allegedly admitted they were paid 100,000-200,000 baht each time they made a drug delivery. They were charged with illegal possession of drugs with intent to sell and handed over to narcotics suppression police for legal action.

Drug Trade Thriving despite police seizures

Meanwhile, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reports Asia’s drug lords have established new manufacturing hubs and maritime trafficking routes to ramp up the supply of methamphetamine across the Asia-Pacific, the United Nations crime agency said Thursday.

The value of the drug trade in the region is estimated between $30.3 billion and $61.4 billion.

Seizures of both “yaba” meth pills and the crystallized meth version — called “ice” — since the start of the pandemic have surged, despite widespread border closures, restricted air travel and rolling lockdowns inside the drug markets.

Authorities across Asia seized a record of 170 tons of meth last year, up nearly 20% from 2019, putting it on a par with – if not larger than — the North America’s synthetic drug market, according to a report on drug flows by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

The seizures “show COVID-19 has had very, very little impact on the organized crime groups and their ability to supply methamphetamine,” said Inshik Sim of the UNODC.