Anti-narcotics police have confiscated 1.65 tonnes of cotton bales laced with crystal methamphetamine from a warehouse in Bangkok’s Rat Burana district, leading to the arrest of five individuals. The discovery marks one of the largest methamphetamine seizures in Thailand to date.
Parin Mekhanan, director of suppression at the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), stated that the shipment, composed of 33 cotton bales, originated from an African country and was intended for India. After being denied entry at its initial destination, the sender contacted a Thai woman in Bangkok to secure temporary storage before rerouting it to another location.
The woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, rented an empty warehouse to house the bales. She was apprehended last week at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre in Khlong Toei district.
The ONCB revealed that intelligence from the Royal Thai Navy in December had alerted them to an African drug trafficking operation using cotton bales as concealment for methamphetamine shipments. The impregnated drugs, invisible to the naked eye, posed significant challenges to detection.
Pol Lt-Col Phanurat Lukboon, ONCB Secretary-General, emphasized the unprecedented nature of the case, noting, “It is the first time we have seized such a large quantity of methamphetamine.”
The arrests and seizure underline ongoing efforts to disrupt international drug trafficking networks using Thailand as a transit point.
