Authorities in Bokeo Province, Laos, which borders Chiang Rai Province in the Golden Triangle, have seized a massive haul of crystal meth (ice), totalling 770 kilograms. The drug trafficking network has reportedly ramped up smuggling operations due to a drastic drop in market prices.
According to authorities, crystal meth previously sold at 80,000-100,000 Thai Baht per kilogram; however, prices have plunged to less than one-tenth of that rate.
According to Laos media, Police in Bokeo Province, on the Chiang Rai border, acted on a tip from locals who noticed three suspicious pickup trucks and a motorcycle passing through Long Prabat Village towards Nam Yon, located in Houayxay District along the Mekong River, opposite Thailand’s Chiang Khong District.
Authorities quickly set up checkpoints to intercept the vehicles. However, the suspects avoided the roadblocks and fled, prompting an overnight chase. Around midnight, police discovered an abandoned pickup truck.
Inside, they found 770 packages of tea bags, each containing one kilogram of ice, totalling 770 kilograms. The vehicle was impounded, and the drugs were sent to provincial police headquarters for further investigation. The suspects remain at large.
Earlier this year, both Lao and Thai officials made multiple significant drug busts. On the same night as the Bokeo seizure, Thai border police in Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai, recovered 700 kilograms of ice in Mae Fa Luang District.
Ongoing rumours suggest these increased smuggling attempts result from a collapsing market price for crystal meth.
Since the start of the fiscal year 2024, Thailand’s Pha Muang Task Force has intercepted over 5,300 kilograms of ice and confiscated other drugs, including 63.6 million methamphetamine pills, 140 kilograms of heroin, and 1.1 kilograms of opium.
Authorities have also seized 235 kilograms of ketamine in 152 operations and arrested 165 suspects. There have been 21 armed confrontations with traffickers, leaving eight suspects dead.
