Life-threatening pesticide contamination was found in methamphetamine pills seized on the bank of the Mekong River in Bueng Kan province, a senior border patrol official said yesterday.
The navy’s Mekong Riverine Unit (MRU) seized 150 packages containing 300,000 meth pills left by smugglers by the river in Khok Kwang village, Bueng Khla district, adjacent to Bang Phaeng district of Nakhon Phanom, late on Monday night.
Capt Natthaphat Chuemongkol, deputy commander of the MRU, said the seized drugs were worth about 30 million baht.
The pills were orange in colour with the letters “WY” on the sides of the packages “Y1” written in blue on top. The drugs were of low quality and were found to have been mixed with chemical pesticides.
They had a highly sedative effect and could pose a threat to life if users overdosed, he said.
Capt Natthapat said they were intended for sale to young people and workers for 50-100 baht a pill, cheaper than grade-A meth pills branded “999” which target users with high purchasing power.