After the numerous drug arrests en route abroad, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has declared that the suppression of illegal drugs must be an urgent national agenda item.
The pl. government spokesman Rachada Dhanadirek made the announcement on behalf of the prime minister and said Prayut called on government workers to support efforts to crack down on drugs.
The spokesman said that money is being allocated to tackle the illicit drug trade and that new legislation is being drafted, such as bills on the punishment of drug offences and regulations regarding the seizure of assets in drug cases.
In several drug seizures since October, the police have seized…:
344 million tablets of methamphetamine
20.6 tons of crystal methamphetamine
2.7 tons of heroin
279,868 tablets ecstasy
Rachada added that there were still 84 cases where drugs were on their way to other countries when they were seized in Thailand. In those arrests, the police took…
39,002 tablets of methamphetamine
72.08 kg crystal methamphetamine
285.69 kg of heroin
1,922 tablets of ecstasy
Thai authorities made numerous drug seizures at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport this month, including an arrest yesterday in which a task force searched a package en route to Australia and found 1.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in notebooks.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced that it is now working with foreign agencies to investigate transnational drug trafficking in transit in Thailand. The partnership followed a major drug bust in Australia, where methamphetamine was seized from a Thai freighter.
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