Eleven suspects have been arrested in three separate police operations in which 500 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine and over 4 million speed pills were seized.
In the first case, Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) police arrested four men at Phitsamai resort in Kuchinarai district, Kalasin on June 10. They were named as Pheeraphat Phiraksa, 23, Samart Khumsamut, 23, Phutthiphong Phuangsombat, 25, and Suparuek Raengkasiwit, 23.
Seized from them were 516kg of crystal methamphetamine and a .38 revolver with 12 rounds of ammunition, deputy national police chief police, Pol Gen Manu Memok and NSB chief, Pol Lt Gen Montri Yimyaem, announced at a press briefing yesterday.
In the second case, four suspects, one of whom was a woman, were apprehended with 200,000 speed pills.
The gang was caught while allegedly trying to transport the drugs from the North to a dealer somewhere in the South of the country.
In the third case, three men were arrested and 4 million speed pills seized from their vehicle in a car park at Talat Thai market in Khlong Luang district, Pathum Thani.
The trio -- Supachok Suksud, 35, Wichai Inseewong, 40, and Pramuan Khankaew, 36 -- allegedly confessed to bringing the speed pills down from the North to deliver to an agent in the district.
Pol Gen Manu said the four suspects involved in the smuggling of over 500kg of crystal methamphetamine were all linked to a transnational drug network.
The suspects and other network members had previously smuggled drugs to Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, the deputy national police chief said.
Pol Lt Gen Montri said the United Nations had provided figures that showed crystal methamphetamine smuggling has surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and the drugs were being smuggled from five Asian countries, including Thailand.
The NSB worked closely with various agencies to track down those involved in drug trafficking and confiscate their assets, he said.