Six million meth pills seized near Thai border by KNLA
Checkpoint bust exposes covert meth route feeding Thai market from Myanmar
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) intercepted over six million methamphetamine pills destined for Thailand, revealing a continuous smuggling operation.
The seizure occurred yesterday, April 30, in Hpa-An province, Karen State, Myanmar, near the Thai border opposite Mae Sariang district, Mae Hong Son. Two suspects were detained.
A KNLA source disclosed that around April 27, the 7th Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU) intercepted a suspicious motorboat transporting drugs from the upper Salween River.
The arrest took place on the Moei River within the KNU’s operational area. The seized drugs were smuggled from the Salween River, targeting southern Mae Sariang, Thailand, across from Myanmar.
The source further revealed that police also confiscated drugs at the KNU/KNLA checkpoint in Maneplaw. These drugs were transported from Pasong, Myanmar, aiming to pass through Mae Sariang into Myanmar’s interior.
The drugs were linked to an person associated with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the military council’s network. The source noted that similar smuggling attempts had occurred three times before.
Interrogation of the detained boat captain revealed claims of using the guise of an anti-dictatorship organisation to smuggle illegal goods, suggesting the drugs were meant for the organisation’s missions. This operation resulted in the arrest of four people.
Initial investigations indicated that the seized drugs were related to the military council. Typically, once transported to southern Mae Sariang, the drugs are immediately picked up by vehicles.
The current trend of smuggling under the pretext of organisational missions has prompted KNU/KNLA checkpoints along the Thai-Myanmar border to intensify their inspection measures, reported KhaoSod.
In similar news, the Surasak Montri Task Force, working alongside military personnel, border patrol officers, and local police, intercepted 300,000 methamphetamine pills in a cross-border drug trafficking operation uncovered on April 22.
Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang, commander of the 2nd Army Area and head of the northeastern border’s narcotics suppression unit (NBYorSor.24), reported that drug smuggling from neighboring countries remains active, typically operating in small, scattered groups, an ant army tactic.
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