The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) is working with authorities in Laos to extradite a Malaysian drug kingpin and key member of a transnational drug syndicate to Thailand.
Pol Lt Gen Panurat Lakboon, assistant national police chief and acting ONCB secretary-general, on Wednesday revealed the cooperation that took place between the Ministry of Public Security and the police chief in Laos to bring 48 drug suspects hiding in that country to justice.
Among them was a Malaysian suspect, identified as Ong Gim Wah, 39, who was captured in Laos on Dec 29 during a joint operation.
Mr Ong, who had a 1-million-baht bounty on his head, is said to have played a key role in procuring drugs and coordinating with drug syndicates in the Golden Triangle region since 2006.
His arrest could limit the drug trade involving crystal meth, heroin and cocaine by as much as 70%, while Thai police have also seized more than 4.4 tonnes of meth pills, Pol Lt Gen Panurat said.
A drug suppression campaign between October and December last year was also disclosed by Pol Lt Gen Panurat. The operation was part of the government's "Quick Win" policies to resolve drug issues within a year.
According to him, narcotics suppression police had made arrests in 268 cases, seizing three tonnes of crystal meth and more than 200 million meth pills, an 80% increase from last year.
A major drug network was prevented from smuggling more than 50 million meth pills along the border.
Police also nabbed small traffickers in over 23,000 cases, a 22.7% increase on last year, and confiscated drug-related assets worth more than 709 million baht.
Internal Security Operations Command taskforce units 24 and 35, which oversee Thailand's northeastern and northern borders, arrested 372 drug smugglers, recovering more than 13 million meth pills and 0.8kg of heroin.
Meanwhile, 19,638 drug addicts throughout the country have undergone rehabilitation, accounting for 21.51% of those targeted. In addition, 22,129 drug users have joined behaviour development programmes.
Under the government's Quick Win policy, 1,052 out of 4,414 patients in 85 risk-prone districts in 30 provinces suffering from mental illness due to illicit drugs are being treated.
The Public Health Ministry also aims to expand psychiatric treatment centres for drug patients across the country.