Cartoon-character ecstasy pills are being smuggled from Europe via Cambodia and Vietnam, with dealers targeting young pubgoers, according to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
ONCB deputy secretary-general Niyom Termsrisook informed reporters of the illicit drug movement on Tuesday in the wake of the arrest of a woman in Pathum Thani province with about 28,000 cartoon-character ecstasy pills on Oct 8.
“The pills were produced in France and the Netherlands. Drug dealers have been expanding their markets to Southeast Asia since 2014. The drugs are smuggled through airports in Cambodia and Vietnam,” he said.
“They are stored in Cambodia before being smuggled through natural border passages to Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province… The smugglers are (victims of) human traffickers hired by coloured people.”
Local sellers of the cartoon-character ecstasy pills are targeting young pubgoers as the drugs have a sex-stimulant property, Mr Niyom said.
A source at ONCB said a quantity of cartoon-character ecstasy pills was earlier seized at Suvarnabhumi airport. The pills were smuggled from the Netherlands where they were priced at 60 baht per pill. In Thailand, the price soared tenfold.
Packs of cartoon-character ecstasy pills were seized in Pathum Thani province on Oct 8. (Photo supplied)