Drug suppression authorities have raided six houses and seized assets worth more than 110 million baht in a crackdown on a major drug trafficking network allegedly operated by a murder suspect.
hitting home: Srikalya Saensuk, the mother of murder suspect and Klongprem Central Prison inmate Daeng Sadphum, answers questions from anti-drug authorities.
Authorities have been pursuing the drug ring for about three years, Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) secretary-general Phermphong Chaowalit said yesterday.
Combined forces of more than 100 soldiers and policemen yesterday raided a house on Nakhon In Road in Nonthaburi’s Bang Kruai district, another house on the same road in Muang district, a house in Sai Mai district of Bangkok, another house in a different housing estate in the same district, an apartment on Sukhumvit Soi 48, and a house in Don Muang district.
The properties were believed to be involved in a drug network allegedly run by Daeng Sadphum, alias Tip Lek, who is in Klongprem Central Prison facing a murder charge, Mr Phermphong said.
Mr Daeng’s wife, Phattharasasi Nanthachokdechophat, his mother, Srikalya Saensuk, and his son, were registered as the owners of these properties, Mr Phermphong said.
He said it was "widely known" Mr Daeng was a major narcotics dealer who had allegedly smuggled drugs from northern Thailand to be distributed to customers in Sai Mai district.
Mr Daeng’s father has also been arrested in a previous drug bust, Mr Phermphong said, adding that Mr Daeng had started out as a drug dealer in Wat Makok community and later built up his illicit drug trade.
The ONCB began tracking his drug ring three years ago after police intercepted about 142,000 methamphetamine pills, worth about 20 million baht, that had been mailed from Chiang Rai to Bangkok, he said.
No more suspects were detained during yesterday’s raids, Mr Phermphong said.
Mr Daeng’s wife and son were asked to prove how they had acquired the properties and assets, he added.