Thai customs seize 600,000 meth pills and 111kg of ketamine at Myanmar border

Thai customs seized 600,000 meth pills and 111 kilogrammes of ketamine at the Myanmar border.

Officers were conducting routine checks when they discovered the illegal haul inside a truck at the Mae Sai Customs checkpoint in Tak on July 5.

While inspecting the vehicle, they discovered fruit crates hidden behind empty baskets. The plastic crates reportedly contained brown packages stuffed with 600,000 methamphetamine pills with an estimated street value of 30 million baht.

Officers also seized 107 packages of tea bags filled with white crystals weighing a combined 111.8 kilogrammes, later confirmed to be ketamine. The value was estimated at 44.7 million baht.

The Burmese driver was detained and charged with 'importing goods into the country without passing through customs procedures and importing narcotics into the country'.

He claimed he was hired to deliver the contraband to a recipient in Thailand, where it would then be transferred to another car.

The total estimated value of the seized narcotics was approximately 74.726 million baht.

Customs Department Director-General Phanthong Loykulnan said the agency will continue strengthening its drug interception efforts through intelligence, technology, and close cooperation with domestic and international agencies to stop narcotics at the border.

He added: 'Ketamine is increasingly being smuggled and abused despite its legitimate medical uses, posing serious risks to public health and safety.

'We will not stop intercepting illegal drugs in all forms, and we urge the public to stay vigilant as narcotics become more accessible.'

Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug production and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.

Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.