Chiang Rai News
Authorites Crackdown on Drug Dealers in Chiang Rai after 17 Year-Old Student Writes Letter to Prime Minister
Local officials are involved in a project to free Chiang Rai villages of drugs and trafficking – Photo NNT
CHIANG RAI – Chief of Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district Prasert Chidpleecheep has ordered over 80 officials to an anti-drug campaign after the discovery of 15 drug-selling locations in the district.
Many of the locations implicated local shop owners and regular employees.
The move followes a plea from a 17-year-old student in Chiang Rai who wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking for help, as her own brother has become addicted to drugs to the point of causing physical violence.
Chiang Rai Police raid home of businessman suspected of being a drug lord – Photo NNT
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Authorties Province wide in Chiang Rai have now commenced a new campaign to crackdown on narcotic networks since the letter was written to the Prime Minister.
In July of this year Thailand’s Secretary-General for the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Sirinya Sithichai said that cross-border drug smuggling is still rampant and approximately 20,000 villages are still plagued by drug abuse even though more than 500 million methamphetamine pills had been intercepted while being brought into the country.
He said Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China had joined hands to block precursor chemicals being smuggled into the Golden Triangle area for use in drug production.
A task force had also been based at Tachilek in Myanmar, opposite Chiang Rai, for this purpose.
So far, more than 500 million methamphetamine pills had been intercepted while being smuggling into Thailand.
