BANGKOK, 3 January 2012 The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) – Bangkok office and the police have joined in a special operation to curb the smuggling of drugs into the capital.
More than 50 officers from the ONCB – Bangkok office, the 191 Special Branch Police and the Railway Police, on Thursday, performed searches on arriving passengers at the capital’s Hua Lamphong main train station.
The operation was initiated after official reports suggested an influx of drugs could be expected along with the return of holidaymakers from such long vacations as New Year holidays and Songkran festival.
According to officials, vacationers, who return from their hometowns to Bangkok, could be smuggling illicit substances, including marijuana and methamphetamine into the city. The smuggling is said to be operated in such a way as an ant army and through train and bus services in order to avoid rigorous police checkpoints.
The searches performed at Hua Lamphong involved five teams of officers, who were assigned to inspect both the platforms and the exits of the train station. The operation mainly relied on police canines and targeted train passengers arriving from the North and the Northeast, especially those whose trips originated from provinces near the border.
