1,374 drug arrests in North in 3 months

1,374 drug arrests in North in 3 months

Illegal narcotics worth B535 million seized from April to June, regional army chief says

Authorities in northern Thailand, a major narcotics trafficking area, arrested 1,374 suspects and seized drugs worth 535 million baht in a three-month crackdown from April to June, according to the regional Army commander.

“We estimate that this year we can confiscate narcotics worth 1.5 billion baht and next year, we have set a target to seize narcotics worth 6 billion baht in value,” Third Army chief Lt Gen Chalongchai Chaiyakham said at a briefing on Saturday.

Two major arrests made recently by anti-narcotics officials, police and soldiers netted a total of 10 million methamphetamine or ya ba pills, authorities said. 

In the first case on Thursday, soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force and police from the Chai Prakan police station in Chiang Mai pulled over a suspicious pickup for a search and found 4 million speed pills. The driver was arrested and charged. 

In Den Chai district of Phrae on the same day, soliders stopped a six-wheeled lorry and when they had it x-rayed, they found 6 million pills hidden under rice husks. 

Investigators said the suspect confessed that he was smuggling the pills from Phayao province to deliver to a middleman in Phitsanulok.

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