Thai police have seized more than 14 million methamphetamine pills that were bound for neighbouring Malaysia and beyond (Photo: Reuters/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Thai police have seized more than 14 million methamphetamine pills worth 1.48 billion THB (45 million USD) that were bound for neighbouring Malaysia and beyond, authorities said on August 21.
According to police, the orange pills of methamphetamine were confiscated in the northern province of Ayutthaya on August 18. Three Thais were arrested in connection with the seizure.
The drugs came from Shan State in northeast Myanmar in an area under the control of an ethnic Wa militia force.
Commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau Lieutenant General Sommai Kongvisaisuk said the drugs were destined for Malaysia and then on to other markets around the world.
The seizure is the latest big methamphetamine bust in the Southeast Asian region. Similar cases had been made in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The production and trafficking of methamphetamine in Southeast Asia has reached “alarming levels”, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Most of the methamphetamine produced in the region comes from lawless parts of Myanmar, particularly Shan State, which has long been known for the production of opium and its refined form, heroin.-VNA
VNA
