PUBLISHED : 28 Sep 2023 at 10:10
Police arrested four suspects in Nakhon Pathom province late Wednesday night, seizing the largest amount of narcotics ever recorded in a single operation in Thailand.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukwimol said on Thursday that police conducted a raid at house number 20/15 on Soi Lamphaya-Bosco 2 Road in Muang district of Nakhon Pathom at 11.30pm as part of their drug suppression mission.
During the operation, four men were apprehended, and a substantial quantity of narcotics was confiscated from the two-story house.
The arrested suspects were identified as Apichart Ekchin, 38, Chalit Khiaophrai, 39, along with his younger brothers Charan Khiaophrai, 38, and Watchara Khiaophrai, 36.
The seized drugs included 15 million methamphetamine pills, 443 heroine bars, 420 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine and a quantity of narcotics known as “happy water” and “five-five”.
Pol Gen Torsak said this was the largest drug seizure in the country, estimating the street value of the drugs at about 300 million baht.
He said detectives spent about two years tracking down this gang of the suspects following the previous arrest of one of its members.
Assistant national police chief Pol Gen Samran Nuanma said that after the previous arrest of Warawut Inkhlai, 36, the gang relocated its narcotics operation to the house in Nakhon Pathom. The drugs were stored there before being distributed to small-scale traffickers, he added.
Mr Warawut was arrested allegedly for illegal firearm possession and drug-related money-laundering.
Pol Gen Samran said that the gang smuggled drugs from countries neighbouring the northern region of Thailand.