Chiang Rai: The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) has dismantled a sophisticated drug trafficking network that cleverly utilized a logistics company to smuggle over a million methamphetamine pills via parcel deliveries. Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanurat Lakboon, Secretary-General of the ONCB, confirmed the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of 500,000 methamphetamine pills in the Mueang Chiang Rai District, with operations extending to Mae Lao District in Chiang Rai Province. The suspects, former drug convicts, used parcels to transport drugs.
According to Thai News Agency, the ONCB was tipped off by a vigilant citizen in early April 2025 about a suspicious individual from Sa Kaeo Province who checked into a room in Chiang Rai Province. Upon the individual's checkout, empty sacks of methamphetamine were discovered in the bathroom, prompting an investigation. It was revealed that the network leader had recently been released after a 17-year imprisonment for drug charges and had established a parcel delivery company in Mae Suai District, Chiang Rai Province, ostensibly to transport parcels laced with drugs to different parts of the country.
The ONCB, in collaboration with law enforcement units, widened their investigation and discovered unusual movements within the network in late May. Two suspicious vehicles were identified leaving a hotel at around 1:00 AM, leading to the arrest of two suspects with 500,000 methamphetamine pills concealed in suitcases. However, four other individuals managed to escape, prompting searches in multiple locations including Chiang Rai, Sa Kaeo, and Suphan Buri Provinces, though no additional suspects or drugs were found.
The investigation revealed that the suspect had previously retrieved drugs from the mountains in Mae Suai District, Chiang Rai Province, packaging them into suitcases to await further instructions. For his services, he was paid between 6,000 and 20,000 baht per operation, using a tour bus for transportation. February 2025 marked his first delivery of 500,000 methamphetamine pills to Rangsit District, Pathum Thani Province. In April 2025, he delivered another batch to Sa Kaeo Province, culminating in a total of over 1.6 million pills smuggled by the time of his arrest.
The ONCB Secretary-General emphasized that preventive measures are being reinforced in logistics-related establishments, both domestically and internationally. This case highlighted a novel modus operandi where traffickers establish logistics companies to facilitate drug distribution through legitimate transportation systems. Consequently, the business involved has been shut down, and a request for cooperation has been sent to regulatory bodies to enhance scrutiny of new logistics companies and enforce stricter parcel inspection procedures. The ONCB is poised to collect further evidence to secure arrest warrants for the remaining fugitives.