Work of the Narcotics Manage Board (ONCB) is definitely stepping up its vigilance for drug smuggling by post because crime syndicates shift their distribution methods to outsmart officials plus move illicit narcotics across the country.
In a special job interview with the Bangkok Post , the ONCB’s deputy secretary-general, Piyasiri Wattanavarangkul, said drug smugglers are increasingly making use of postal services because their preferred option to evade authorities’ detection.
As a result, the frequency of smuggling and amounts of narcotics seized are on the particular rise, he mentioned.
In between October last year and June this year, regulators arrested 12 potential foods involved in large-scale medication trafficking and confiscated more than 2 . 76 million methamphetamine capsules, 3. 5 kilogrammes of crystal meth, known as ya ice , and more than several, 000 kilogrammes of cannabis, he stated.
Medicines in the post
Mr Piyasiri said that traffickers have got changed the way they smuggle drugs.
“Drugs are concealed in postal deals and delivered [to cities] through local post workplaces in remote rural areas in northernmost provinces, ” this individual said.
Hmong hill tribespeople living along the border in the North package deal narcotics as safe consignments and have them delivered by private delivery companies.
“Often, Bangkok and the four the southern part of border provinces — Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and Songkhla are the final destinations, ” Mr Piyasiri said.
“Some 2 . 5 million speed pills had been found recently to get been sent from Chiang Rai’s Mae Fa Luang district and Chiang Mai’s Chiang Dao area to Pattani and Songkhla, ” he or she said.
“Mae Fa Luang and Mae Sai districts in Chiang Rai border a known drug production base in a neighbouring country, ” he said.
He was talking about Myanmar’s Shan Condition where armed ethnic groups are alleged to be heavily involved in drug production.
Mr Piyasiri said Chiang Khong, Wiang Kaen and Thoeng districts within Chiang Rai, along with the districts of Phu Sang and Chiang Kham in Phayao are also used by Hmong drug couriers as smuggling routes.
The ONCB is working with the particular Royal Thai Police’s Narcotics Suppression Agency to crack upon drugs smuggled simply by these means, that have only contributed towards the wider and faster distribution of illegal drugs across the country, alongside the continuing use of more conventional smuggling methods.
“Moreover, early this year we also found that illegal drugs had been sent by Hmong people via global postal service through Laos to South Korea, ” Mr Piyasiri said.
This shows drug dealers’ efforts to evade recognition by Thai regulators by choosing to send the drugs from a neighbouring country instead, he said.
“These illicit drugs would have been sold across the whole region if they had gone undetected, ” Mr Piyasiri said.
The ONCB has devised actions to deal with the problem, which includes alerting postal and courier service providers in the areas where this kind of cases are documented.
Mail sorting centres where parcels and packages are processed intended for delivery to other countries are also told to keep a watch out for illicit drugs, Mr Piyasiri mentioned.
Anti-drug police have also been inquired to use X-ray readers to detect any kind of drugs hidden within packages, he mentioned.
Delivery and logistics program companies are also required by law to report the identities as well as the ID card numbers of senders and receivers of packages as a way to help tackle the issue, he said.
If any packages are thought of containing illegal drugs inside, they have to inform ONCB authorities within 15 times so they can step in and act.
“Failure to do so is definitely an offence and violators are liable to an excellent of between ten, 000 and 100, 000 baht plus suspension or revocation of their operating permits, ” Mr Piyasiri said.
Alternative routes
In addition to the Northern, the ONCB can also be keeping a close view on areas in the upper Northeast, which includes Loei’s Pak Chom and Chiang Khan districts, as well as a lot of areas in Nong Khai.
These areas are being used as substitute routes in case medicines cannot be moved on routes in northern provinces for any reason, Mister Piyasiri said.
These routes are convenient intended for moving drugs over the Mekong River from Laos with transportation points on the Lao side of the border, he said.
Meanwhile, surveillance is also being ramped up in locations in the lower Northeast as drugs discovered to have been smuggled across the border in Ubon Ratchathani’s Khemarat district where the Mekong River narrows and its particular large rocky outcrops and islets may be used as transit points for cross-border medication smuggling, he mentioned.
Addititionally there is another major medication trafficking network operating in Laos’ Savannakhet Province, establishing links with drug sellers in the deep Southern, he said.
Crackdown continues
The particular Myanmar government offers intensified crackdowns on drug syndicates in the country, he said.
Under Procedure Golden Triangle 1511, Myanmar authorities possess destroyed numerous medication production facilities and seized large amounts of narcotics and medication precursors, Mr Piyasiri said.
Operation Golden Triangle 1511 is a combined anti-drug initiative concerning China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand plus Vietnam.
The “Golden Triangle” is a notorious production hub for medications where the borders associated with Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.
“Thailand benefits from Myanmar’s drug attack as it helps curb an influx associated with illegal drugs, especially speed pills and crystal meth, across the border, ” he or she said.
This also helps prevent the distribution of the medicines to a wider selection of countries, he stated.
”Currently, we are focusing our own energy and resources on seizing property belonging to drug syndicates to cut off their financial lifelines, which often will emasculate their own networks as a whole, ” Mr Piyasiri stated.
Among October last year and July 27, regulators confiscated more than nine. 7-billion-baht worth of drug-related assets, he or she said.
He also urged the public to provide specialists with tip-offs regarding drug trafficking via its 1386 hotline. He said info provided by calls to the service had already proved valuable. On one occasion, a tip-off led police in order to seize about 5 million speed tablets in Phrae’s Living area Chai district within January.
The deputy ONCB secretary-general also warned people to stay away from medication networks.
They are also urged to not be lured in to opening bank accounts meant for drug dealers in order to conduct their economic transactions as this violates the Narcotics Program code and violators may face a jail term of up to 3 years and/or a fine as high as 60, 000 baht, Mr Piyasiri mentioned.