A major drug dealer has allegedly acquired protected forest land in Chiang Rai for use as a transit point in plying his illegal trade.
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said 68 plots of land covering about 1,000 rai of forest reserve in Wiang Pa Pao district had been taken over by drug kingpin Sarayut Leelerttrakul.
The suspect is wanted on an arrest warrant for drug and money laundering charges, but remains at large.
Most of the forest land in question is on the border with Myanmar.
Gen Paiboon said the drug dealer had paid local villagers to leave forest land, which they were already encroaching upon.
The justice minister said officials are now working alongside the Interior Ministry, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry to further investigate the illegal acquisition of the forest land.
Deputy permanent secretary for justice Pol Col Dusadee Arayawut said an initial investigation had found the drug dealer used profits from his crimes to pay villagers for access to the forest land.
Local authorities became suspicious because the protected land has no official property value, nor can it be put up as collateral for a bank loan.
Investigators believe the drug dealer wanted to use the land to establish a secure route for smuggling drug supplies across the border. He may also have been planning to use the area as a drug transit point.
Pol Col Dusadee added that villagers in the area are suspected of showing an interest in becoming drug couriers.
He said the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and the police will work together to create a map of the 68 plots of forest land involved in the case.
Permpong Chaowalit, secretary-general of the ONCB, said the board is conducting an in-depth investigation and has given itself a one-month deadline to gather all necessary information on the case.