Police arrest 2 Lao men, seize 550 kilograms of methamphetamine at Mekong River bank

In another drug bust by the Mekong River, police seized 550 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine valued at around 275 million baht. Methamphetamine trafficking across the river from Laos to Thailand has spiked since the Myanmar coup. Many militant groups in Myanmar border towns rely on synthetic drug production as a main source of income. With tightened patrol along the Thai-Myanmar border, many are cutting through Laos and across the Mekong River to smuggle the drugs into Thailand.

Officers arrested 2 young Lao men at the riverbank in Nakhon Phanom’s That Phanom distict as they were loading sacks of methamphetamine onto a pickup truck. Police say they suspect 21 year old Phaeng Duangmalai and 20 year old Noo Kaewmanee also delivered a shipment of drugs on Wednesday night. The 2 men allegedly told police that they were paid 5,000 baht each to deliver the methamphetamine.

Earlier this week, drug suppression police arrested a 27 year old man in Sakhon Nakhon’s Bang Muang district and seized 30,115 methamphetamine pills. Police investigated and tracked down another drug suspect the next day, arresting a 46 year old Charoon Suriyaphum and seizing 3 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from his pickup truck.

Charoon allegedly told police that he had been hired by Laos national to transport the methamphetamine and was paid around 50,000 to 100,000 baht per delivery. Police say he had already picked up 450 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from the riverbank in Nakhon Pathom and was planning to pick up another 550 kilograms from the Phaeng and Noo the next night.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post