NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Seven alleged members of a transnational drug network have been arrested and 382 kilogrammmes of crystal methamphetamine and 474,000 meth pills seized in two southern provinces during a joint operation by police and soldiers.
The arrests followed receipt of information about a transnational drug network using Thailand as a transit route. The smuggled drugs went through the deep South to Malaysia and then to Australia.
The gang also sold drugs in Thailand, Lt Gen Kriangsak Srirak, commander of the 4th Army Region, said at a press conference on Wednesday to announce the arrests.
He said the arresting officers seized 474,000 speed pills, 382kg of crystal meth, two pistols with ammunition, four cars and one motorcycle.
The suspects, six men and one woman, were arrested in Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces.
Thepsak, or Chai Thamphannara, 35, an alleged major drug trader in the South, was the first to be arrested, at a petrol station in Phra Saeng district of Surat Thani, as he was delivering 54,000 speed pills to a customer.
That led to the arrest of two more men - Kiarttipong Pan-rin, 32, and Chutiphon Koron, 36 - at a petrol station car park in Tha Sala district of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The officers seized 280,000 meth pills from them.
Shortly afterwards, the same team detained two more suspects at a hotel in Tha Sala district - Pornchai Yod-in, 23, and Ouaychai Wangsawat, 29. Seized from their rooms were 140,000 meth pills, 2kg of crystal meth and a 9mm pistol.
Further investigation led the arrest of another man, Sorbueree or Yee Tae, 35, and a woman, Jittrawadee Phetkhong, 36, and seizure of 38 packages containing 380kg of crystal meth, and 28 speed pills, at a roadside pavilion in Chalabhorn district of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The seized drugs were worth about 114 million baht, but would be worth about 1.1 billion baht overseas, reports said.
Pol Lt Gen Amporn Buarabporn, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, senior military and police officers and drug suppression officials were also at the press conference.