B20m drug stash abandoned beside Mekong

NAKHON PHANOM: More than 200,000 speed pills and 10 kilogrammes of marijuana worth at least 20 million baht were left abandoned on the bank of the Mekong River in Tha Uthen district late Friday night.

A patrol of the Mekong Riverine Unit found the haul in Tha Nam Khaew village of Tha Uthen district, senior navy officers said at a briefing on Saturday.

Authorities believed smugglers had used a longtailed boat to bring the drugs across from Laos and left them on the river bank for their accomplices to pick up.

Last month, more than one million speed pills were seized in Nakhon Phanom.

Smuggling routes from Myanmar through Laos and across the Mekong into northeastern Thailand have grown steadily busier in recent years. Previously, many of the shipments from Myanmar travelled directly into Thailand.

Authorities say patrols will be increased as illicit drugs are being smuggled into Nakhon Phanom almost every day.