Seven suspects were arrested with 2 million methamphetamine pills in their possession and about 15 million baht of assets seized from them in a joint operation by provincial and narcotics control police.
The operation was on March 24. Details were released on Monday.
lPol Lt Gen Piya Tawichai, the Provincial Police Region 5 commissioner, said the operation was a followup to the seizure of 440,000 meth pills in Chiang Rai’s Mae Fa Luang district on Dec 3, 2021.
The drugs were being trafficked by a network headed by man known as A-kuay, or Ti sae Sung.
On March 5, another 200,000 meth pills were seized in Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai, also from A-kuay’s network.
This led to the arrest of A-kuay and six other suspects, and seizure of 2 million meth pills found in their possession, when they turned up at an auto repair garage in Muang district of Chiang Rai on Sunday.
The suspects told police they were hired by another man named Nathawut Panpong, alias Sia Tao, to deliver the meth from Muang district of Chiang Rai to the South of Thailand.
Officials impounded deeds for three blocks of land and three houses, along with six cars, five motorcycles, two pistols, some gold jewellery and 820,000 baht cash.
The seized assets were suspected to have been acquired with money obtained through the drug trade, and were worth about 15 million baht in total, Pol Lt Gen Piya said.
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Bags containing 2 million methamphetamine pills seized at an auto repair garage in Muang district of Chiang Rai on Sunday. Seven suspects were also arrested. (Photo: Panumet Tanraksa)
