Thai and Lao police seized 14.8 million methamphetamine pills in Laotian capital of Vientiane between November 28 and 30, in joint operations between the police forces.

Four Laotians and one Thai were arrested and detained by Laotian police for questioning.

Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lukboon, Thailand’s assistant national police chief, said that the huge drug haul, which originated in the Golden Triangle, was to be smuggled from Laos into north-eastern Thailand and distributed to other parts of the country.

He said that the Office of Narcotics Control Board has recently invoked Section 5 (10) of the Anti-Narcotics Act B.E. 2564 (2021) to place 14 districts in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and four districts in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Phanom under close watch, as they are the border areas mostly frequently used to smuggle illegal narcotics from Myanmar and Laos into Thailand.

Methamphetamine pills, crystal Ice and other synthetic drugs are allegedly produced by laboratories in Shan state of Myanmar, under control of ethnic armies such as the United Wa State Army.