RTP drug bust bonanza: Meth and millions seized!

Royal Thai Police (RTP) announced a significant increase in drug seizures over the past nine months, capturing nearly 800 million methamphetamine pills and seizing assets worth 9.3 billion baht. This marks a 120.63% rise from the previous year.

Deputy Police Chief Samran Nualma, Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) Chief Kirisak Tantinwachai, and other senior officials, shared details during a press briefing at the NSB headquarters today, July 5. They outlined the results of a concerted effort to dismantle 100 drug networks across eight provinces, leading to the arrest of 22 individuals from five key networks between June 9 and June 30.

During these drug seizures, police confiscated 10. 4 million methamphetamine pills, 524 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, 5.6 kilogrammes of heroin, and 28 kilogrammes of ketamine. Additionally, assets worth over 160 million baht were seized for further investigation.

Samran emphasised the broader success of the National Police in combating drugs over the past nine months, from October 1 of last year to yesterday. Suspects in 84,686 drug-related cases were arrested, a 47.26% increase, equating to 27,180 more cases than the previous year. This surge in arrests, he noted, has helped curb the spread of drugs in communities nationwide.

Similarly, efforts to intercept drug transportation saw substantial gains. Police handled 995 cases, a 36.3% rise, involving small, medium, and large-scale drug transportation within and across provinces and countries. These included 516 cases of small-scale transportation, 266 medium-scale, and 212 large-scale cases.

Legal actions against major drug network operators and associates have also intensified, with 1,443 cases of conspiracy support, an 83.35% increase, and 130 money laundering cases, up by 109.6%. Furthermore, police exceeded their annual target by executing 3,227 drug-related arrest warrants, surpassing the goal by 448 warrants.

Staggering increase

The value of seized assets during this period amounted to 9.3 billion baht. Police also reported confiscating 797 million methamphetamine pills, a staggering 120.63% increase from the previous year. Additionally, 4,183 kilogrammes of ketamine were seized, marking a 15.48% rise, along with 1,270 kilogrammes of heroin, a 50.65% increase. Confiscated crystal methamphetamine totalled 15,645 kilogrammes.

From June 9 to yesterday, July 4, NSB achieved notable results, arresting 1,436 suspects in 1,076 cases. They seized 327.4 million methamphetamine pills, 7,326 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, 406 kilogrammes of heroin, 2.1 kilogrammes of ketamine, and 2,005 ecstasy pills. Assets worth approximately 3.6 billion baht were also seized for inspection.

Samran reiterated the commitment of the NSB to continue their rigorous crackdown on all levels of drug trafficking. He stressed the use of all legal measures to dismantle drug networks continually.

He added that the crackdown on drug networks has also revealed the presence of firearms and military weapons within these groups. Consequently, he urged law enforcement personnel to exercise caution to prevent any losses during operations, reported KhaoSod.