Navy seizes Bt12m worth of drugs in Nong Khai, suspected to be from China

Captain Rakop Thewaprateep, commander of Nong Khai’s Mekong Patrol Unit of the Royal Thai Navy, told a press conference on Thursday that his unit had foiled the attempt at midnight on Tuesday but no arrests were made.

Acting on a tip-off, officials from the Mekong Patrol Unit were deployed to stake out near piers along the Mekong River in Nong Khai’s Muang district on Tuesday night.

A team of officials spotted a boat approaching the riverbank near the pier at Wat Meechai at 11pm. Two men were seen carrying two bags from the boat and leaving them on the river bank.

When a man came arrived to pick up the bags, the officials came out of hiding to try and arrest them but the three men managed to escape along the dark river bank, he said.

Officials seized the bags and found two kilograms of crystal meth, four kg of ecstasy, six kg of ketamine drug as well as 200 sachets of coffee mixed with ecstasy and 100 grams of ecstasy hidden in a bean bag. The coffee and bean bags carried Chinese trademarks so the Navy believed the drug was being smuggled in from China, Rakop said.

Rakop said the Navy has stepped up efforts to prevent drug smuggling across the Mekong River due to the increased incidence of drug trafficking in the country recently.