Chiang Rai Hill-tribesmen Busted with 600 Million Baht Worth of Ice & Heroin

12 hill tribesmen have been arrested by narcotics suppression police for trafficking 600 million baht worth of drugs

 

CHIANG MAI – Drug Suppression Police have arrested 12 men, all hill-tribes people, and seized 42kg of heroin and 38 kg of crystal methamphetamine with an estimated street value of 600 million baht in Chiang Mai.

seized 42kg of heroin

National Police Commissioner Adul Saengsingkaew announced that the drug bust resulted in the seizure of 38 kilograms of Ice and 42 kilograms of heroin sticks, worth a combined 600 million baht in market value.

He said three of the men arrested with the drugs worked for a major distribution network operating in the North.

The drug smugglers were apprehended in Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai Province. The bust was planned when officials learned that Lahu tribesmen would smuggle the drugs in from the border and pass on the shipment to a group of Hmong tribesmen who lived in Chiang Rai, and that the shipment would be furthered transported to Chiang Dao district in Chiang Mai to be finally handed over to narcotics traders who would then distribute the drugs throughout the country.

All of the 12 Hill-tribesmen were arrested in Chiang Mai, and the drug haul was uncovered in three pickup trucks pulled over separately by police in Chiang Dao, Fang and Chai Prakan districts.