The Office of the Narcotics Control Board says it has notched up notable successes in the past 12 months in its fight against drugs.
Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, the national police chief-designate and outgoing secretary-general of the ONCB, said more drugs, particularly methamphetamine, had been seized in the past year.
The number of methamphetamine pills confiscated in the past year rose to 73 million from 45 million in the previous year, while the amount of crystal methamphetamines seized had gone up to 1,446 kilogrammes from 1,058kg, he said.
The number of drug-related asset seizure cases had jumped to 4,686 from only 1,984 during the previous year; and the total value of the assets confiscated by the ONCB had increased to about 1.65 billion baht, up from 1.01 billion baht in a year-on-year comparison.
Pol Gen Adul said inmates still directing drug trafficking activities while behind bars had been moved to maximum security prisons equipped with mobile phone signal jamming devices, such as the Khaobin Central Prison in Ratchaburi.
This would help curb the illicit drug trade inside jails in which drug inmates carry on trading with the help of smuggled phones.
The ONCB was also working more closely with its counterparts in the region, particularly in Myanmar, where it had promoted cash crops as substitutes for opium.
The office also had cracked down on the smuggling of substances used as precursors in narcotics production from Thailand to neighbouring countries, Pol Gen Adul said.
Meanwhile, the ONCB's office in Samut Prakan yesterday began the process of seizing assets from a drug suspect who managed to escape police arrest during a recent crackdown.
The ONCB has learned that suspected drug trafficker, Watchara Orid, owned various types of assets including properties and bank deposits both in Samut Prakan and Bangkok worth 40 million baht. The board was now in the process of confiscating them.