Army Seizes Large Cache of Methamphetamine on Mekong River

Three-quarters of a million meth pills and 500 grams of crystal meth were seized by an Army patrol along northeastern Thailand’s Mekong Riverbank on Tuesday night.

The soldiers were from Ranger Company 2108 and were on patrol against smuggling, according to Col Uthai Nilnet, the 21st Army Ranger Regiment commander.

It’s estimated that they found 378 bundles containing 756,000 meth pills and 0.5 kilograms of crystal meth with a total street value of 10 million baht on the Mekong riverbank at Ban Phaeng Tai, Moo 11 village in Tambon Ban Phaeng of Nakhon Phanom in northeastern Thailand.

According to reports, the drugs were believed to have been smuggled across the Mekong river from Laos and were then left on the river bank for collection.

There were no arrests made.

Thailand, the main route for meth from Myanmar and Laos to the Asia-Pacific region, has seized so far this year nearly 20 tons of highly addictive crystal meth, or “ice,” and more than 300 million meth pills known as “yaba,” according to Thai drug police.

Myanmar’s Shan State, where the majority of meth is manufactured, borders Laos, a poor, Communist country.

For precursor chemicals, Laos is the key route into the Golden Triangle, and it is the main exit point for the end product – highly addictive synthetic drugs destined for the Asia-Pacific market.