Anti-narcotics officers and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) have seized more than 50 tonnes of chemical precursors during coordinated raids on warehouses across four provinces, including Samut Prakan, following a major breakthrough against a notorious drug trafficking syndicate.
Yesterday, officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and the DSI targeted 10 locations across Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Rayong and Nonthaburi. The sting operation uncovered vast stockpiles of hazardous industrial chemicals hidden inside a factory warehouse in Samut Prakan’s Phra Pradaeng district and other sites.
The massive haul included 9,105kg of acetone, 10,170kg of acetic acid, 225kg of hydrochloric acid, 4,500kg of sulphuricacid and 26,000kg of dioctyl phthalate.
Authorities estimated that if these essential precursors had reached illicit labs in neighboring regions, they could have yielded approximately 1.1 billion methamphetamine pills or 21 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice."
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited one of the raided warehouses, said that the seizure of such a large haul of precursor chemicals was the result of an extended investigation following the extradition to Thailand of ‘Thapana’, aka ‘Nu Choen’, a major drug trafficker with extensive networks in Thailand and overseas.
Thapana reportedly escaped from Thailand about 14 years ago. He was extradited from South Korea to Thailand in April after the ONCB learned of his whereabouts in South Korea and sought his extradition to stand trial here.
Citing police investigators, he alleged that Thapana was a major supplier of precursor chemicals to clandestine drug laboratories in Myanmar and in the Golden Triangle, the infamous no man’s land where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet.
The prime minister also alleged that Thapana was linked to Chinese ‘grey’ businessmen in Thailand involved in the smuggling of chemicals used in the production of fluids for e-cigarettes.
According to the police, Thapana had faked his own death by stage-managing his apparent murder and the dumping of his body in the Moei River in Myawaddy township in Myanmar in 2022. Thai police believed, however, that he was still alive and active.
He is currently being held on charges of narcotic possession,trafficking and money laundering.
More than 60 arrest warrants have been issued against him.
