Thailand finds USD 29M of drugs, arrests 11 in just over a week

Thai authorities say they have seized drugs worth about USD 29 million and arrested 11 people in recent days as narcotics case surge in the country.

The drugs included amphetamine pills, marijuana, ketamine and ice seized in 11 unconnected cases since March 25. The haul displayed today at the Narcotics Suppression Division outside Bangkok was spread along a row of tables about 15 metres long (49 feet).

The total was estimated to be worth 890 million baht (USD 29 million), with the largest single haul being 700 kg of ice, or crystal methamphetamine recovered March 28.

They also seized nearly 1,800,000 pills of yaba, which is a local caffeine-methamphetamine mix, 1,380 kg of marijuana, and smaller quantities of cocaine, ecstasy pills, ketamine and other drugs combinations.

Thai police have dealt with more than 1,000 drug cases since October, compared to about 450 in the previous one-year period.

The most recent yesterday, when officers arrested a Thai woman returning from Ethiopia with 50 containers of cocaine concealed inside her body.

The 11 recent arrests include a Malaysian and a Tanzanian.