More than 61 million speed pills and 12 tonnes of marijuana were intercepted by border patrol police in the first three months of this year.
The drugs were seized before being transported into the inner areas of the country, said Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang, chief of the Border Patrol Police Bureau.
The bureau is one the agencies under the Royal Thai Police which deals with drug offences, he said.
Pol Maj Gen Sunthorn Chalermkiat, deputy commissioner of the bureau, has been assigned to organise training for border patrol police across the country on how drug cases can be better investigated, according to Pol Lt Gen Sompong.
Border patrol police would be working with officers from the Central Investigation Bureau and Metropolitan Police Bureau to organise the training, Pol Maj Gen Sunthorn said, adding these trained personnel would help widen probes into suspects linked with drug syndicates.
In the past, border patrol police who arrested drug suspects usually handed them over to drug suppression officers or the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) for further investigation, Pol Maj Gen Sunthorn said.
If border patrol police are capable of investigating cases by themselves, this would effectively support the anti-drug mission, he said.
Apart from drug suppression, border patrol police cope with various transgressions, ranging from illegal entry into the country, forestry and natural resource violations, vehicle theft, and the smuggling of weapons and untaxed goods, he added.
Pol Lt Gen Sompong said the bureau is initiating new projects to serve the public, such as opening bureau space to be tourism locations. He said the seaside Rama VI camp in Phetchaburi's Cha-am district would be opened for the public to visit its beach. Beach chairs will be provided without charge.
