Armed ethnic groups are producing more illicit drugs to traffic in or through Thailand to finance their fight against the forces of the Myanmar government, a senior army officer said on Monday.
Col Meechai Nillasart, deputy commander of the Pha Muang Force, said the rebels needed the money to buy weapons and support their fighters.
The Pha Muang Force had seized 151 million methamphetamine pills so far this fiscal year, a leap from 42 million in the same period last year. It also confiscated 256 kilogrammes of heroin and 1,350 kilogrammes of crystal meth, known as "ice".
The unit arrested 347 suspects and killed 29 traffickers during clashes along the border.
The fiscal year begins in October.
Col Meechai said millions more pills were believed stored near the border in Myanmar waiting to be smuggled into northern Thailand.
The Pha Muang Force takes care of the northern border in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit and Phitsanulok provinces, a distance of 933 kilometres.
Armed ethnic groups came together to fight the government after the Myanmar armed forces staged a military coup in 2021, seizing power from the democratically elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
