Concerns have been raised following the discovery of a new source of methamphetamine, suggested by the seizure of over 100,000 pills with previously unseen logos in Buri Ram on Saturday
A joint force of the Office of Narcotics Control Board, the Border Patrol Police and the Royal Thai Army made the seizure following a tip-off about drug smuggling across the Cambodian border into the northeastern Thai province.
The operation led to the apprehension of a group of six men from Lahan Sai district.
The suspects — identified only as Likit, 31, Chirayu, 27, Wanchai, 36, Wasan, 25, Sakda, 30, and Pataradanai, 24 — were found in possession of 101,600 meth pills and a .380-calibre firearm loaded with a single round of ammunition.
Authorities said the drugs had an estimated street value of 1.4 million baht.
Pataradanai, who was the first to be caught with 6,000 pills, told police that Wanchai had received 600,000 pills from a location in Saraburi, and the group intended to distribute them. They had so far delivered 500,000 pills to buyers in neighbouring provinces.
He said that Likit was the leader of the gang but was allegedly taking instructions from an unidentified figure known as Chi, who remains at large.
According to authorities, the confiscated pills bear a distinctive logo they had not seen before. They were packaged in wax paper marked with the characters “Y vs 1”. The pills are stamped with the letters A or WY. The new branding raises concerns about a potential new source of trafficked drugs entering the kingdom.
