The Royal Thai Police have seized more than 15 million methamphetamine pills and other illegal substances worth 300 million baht (US$8.15 million), in what authorities said was one of the largest drug hauls so far this year.
Four people were arrested in connection with the bust, which included 420 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine as well as heroin at a home in Nakhon Pathom province, north of the capital Bangkok.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said, “This is one of the largest drug storage facilities in the middle of Thailand, in a community area.”
Incoming police chief Police General Torsak Sukvimol noted that the overall street value of the bust was 300 million baht, adding that the drugs were produced in a neighboring country.
The United Nations said in a report earlier this year that trafficking of synthetic drugs in East and Southeast Asia is surging, with high volumes of methamphetamine still being produced from the Golden Triangle region where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet.
The region has a long history of illicit drug production and has recently served as a massive production center for amphetamine-type stimulants, especially methamphetamine, used by Asian crime syndicates with distribution networks reaching as far as Japan and New Zealand. (NNT)
