Four gang members were arrested in Nonthaburi and 150 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine confiscated in a crackdown on a major transnational drugs ring, authorities said Monday.
One suspect was a Thai man, identified as Thanongsak Phanklan, who was believed to be the gang’s second in command.
The gang’s leader is still at large, Sirinya Sitdhichai, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said.
Investigators are gathering evidence and clues to help them track down at least five other suspects.
Mr Sirinya said police received tips-off from drug convicts with links to the gang in Khao Bin Prison in Ratchaburi.
The information sparked a major surveillance operation that led to the arrests of the four drug suspects in Nonthaburi, including Mr Thanongsak who stored the crystal methamphetamine at a rented house in the province’s Bang Bua Thong district.
It was not known when the arrests took place.
According to investigators, the gang bought the crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, from a drug supplier in Myanmar before smuggling it across the border near Tachilek into Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district.
From there the gang members boarded an interprovincial bus at the Mae Sai bus terminal bound for Bangkok.
When the gang arrived at Mor Chit in Bangkok, they transferred the drugs to a waiting pickup truck parked near the terminal.
The pickup truck driver then drove to the rented house in Bang Bua Thong, which allegedly served as a transit warehouse.
During the raid, the ya ice was found in four large suitcases.
On closer inspection the drugs were found packed in tea bags, Mr Sirinya said.
“Thailand is only used as a transit point for smuggling drugs to a third country,” Mr Sirinya said.
The authorities said the meth is often later transported to Australia and China.
He also said that gangs members had changed the way they smuggle methamphetamine to the Central Plains provinces.
Instead of hiding the drugs among crops carried by trucks, they have resorted to transporting them on interprovincial buses.
Drugs are kept at apartments in Bangkok or at rented houses in neighbouring provinces including Nonthaburi, Mr Sirinya said.
The recent crackdown also saw police seize assets worth about three million baht from the suspects, including cars and 400,000-baht in cash.
Mr Sirinya said many transnational gang members have been arrested over the last year. His agency has seized 12,019kg of ya ice in the past nine months, he added.
He gave two reasons behind the surge in the amount crystal meth being seized.
“Production sites in neighbouring countries have driven up the supply, while Thai authorities have stepped up their crackdowns,” Mr Sirinya said.
