Somchai who is believed to be the mastermind behind the illegal trade in the cold medicine, pseudoephedrine used to make methamphetamine, was arrested in Myanmar last August.
Somchai fled to Myanmar last year after Thai authorities uncovered a stash of 137,000 pseudoephedrine pills at his rented house in Tambon San Klang in Chiang Mai province. Another package containing 10,000 pseudoephedrine pills posted from Uttaradit's Thong Saen Khan Hospital, was found at another house he rented in Tambon Ton Pao.
Pongsapat said the ease with which Somchai was extradited from Myanmar was due to the good relationship and close bilateral cooperation the two countries enjoyed in the crackdown on transnational drug rings.
The next step, said Pongsapat, would be to hand Somchai over to the Department of Special Investigation for further investigation relating to the charges filed against him.