More than 28 billion baht worth of ketamine, the country's largest-ever haul, was confiscated at a warehouse in Chachoengsao yesterday, the Justice Ministry announced.
Altogether 11.5 tonnes of ketamine were seized at the warehouse in Bang Pakong district after Taiwanese anti-narcotics authorities alerted the Thai government to the recent smuggling of 300kg of ketamine from Thailand to Taiwan.
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin said the seizure was jointly conducted by the special Airport Interdiction Task Force (AITF), military officers, narcotics suppression police and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), which had been tracking the network believed responsible for the drug trafficking for two months.
The minister said the ketamine was destined for a third country.
Popular among nightlife goers, ketamine causes hallucinations and damages the brain.
ONCB secretary-general Wichai Chaimongkhon said officials were checking to see where the drugs had originated. The officials believed they had been smuggled via the Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai by two Thai nationals.