PUBLISHED : 29 Sep 2023 at 04:00
Police arrested four suspects in Nakhon Pathom province late Wednesday night, seizing the largest haul of narcotics ever recorded in a single operation in Thailand.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, who will soon be officially appointed the new police chief, said yesterday 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 efforts.
Four men were apprehended during the operation, and a substantial quantity of narcotics was confiscated from the two-storey house.
The arrested suspects were named as Apichart Ekchin, 38; Chalit Khiaophrai, 39; and his younger brothers Charan Khiaophrai, 38, and Watchara Khiaophrai, 36.
The seized drugs included 15 million methamphetamine pills, 443 heroin 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 ever 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 the gang following the previous arrest of one of its members.
Assistant national police chief Pol Gen Samran Nuanma said that after the earlier arrest of Warawut Inkhlai, 36, the gang relocated its 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 for illegal firearm possession and over drug-related money laundering allegations.
Pol Gen Samran said that the gang smuggled drugs from countries neighbouring the northern region of Thailand.
Meanwhile, Wichai Chaimongkhon, Secretary-General of the Narcotics Control Board, said yesterday that anti-narcotics drug police seized 3.7kg of heroin hidden in a coffee-making machine at a courier delivery company in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district.
The box it was in came from a targeted drug surveillance area.
He said his team x-rayed the box carrying the machine, which was destined for Australia and found 10 bars of heroin with a total weight of 3.7kg. Police will expand their investigation against the drug dealers involved, he said.