Targeting a rumored drug ring connected to the recent death of a foreign visitor, the Crime Suppression Division and local authorities raided eight locations in the Pai area of Mae Hong Son on Friday.
In operations in two villages in Pai, a well-known tourist attraction in the northern border province, 85 officers took part.
The Pai Police, Border Patrol Police, local troops, and public servants worked together with the CSD’s Hanuman commando squad to launch the operation.
It came about as a result of the finding that a gang of ethnic Pai peasants were peddling heroin, methamphetamine, and “ice” (crystal meth) to addicts both in the area and abroad.
The recent death of a foreign visitor who apparently overdosed on heroin served as the catalyst for the investigation.
Somphet Suksamerphak, 41, is suspected of being involved in the drug trade and shooting at an arresting officer. Police searched his home.
Officers discovered his wife there, but they could not find Somphet, who had reportedly escaped just before they arrived.
Nothing illegal was discovered during the home’s search.
Another alleged member of the neighborhood drug network was discovered by police during a raid on a home in the same town; he was a 43-year-old ethnic peasant named Jalo.
As potential evidence, a shotgun found at the residence was taken into custody.
Narcotics, according to the police, were discovered during investigations of additional Pai locations.
A group of nearby villagers also confronted and threatened officers, but no violence broke out.
Colonel Pattanasak Buppasuwan, a CSD deputy commander who led the team, gave the villagers a briefing on the operation and relevant legal issues.
credit nation
