1.65 tonnes of ‘ice’ soaked in fabric seized in ONCB-led drug heist

A record 1.65 million tonnes of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” was found concealed in rolls of cotton textile in a joint operation led by the Office of Narcotics Control Board. The drugs, intended for smuggling through Thailand to other countries, were allegedly linked to an Indian drug-trafficking gang. 

ONCB secretary-general Pol Lt-General Panurat Lakboon told the press on Monday that five Thai suspects who were allegedly working for the gang have been arrested.

The joint operation with customs, navy and air force officials was carried out on Friday, during which the officials learned that the suspects, including a female team leader, had established a Thai company to import rolls of cotton fabric laced with drugs.

The shipment, sourced from an African nation and imported from India, was destined for third-party countries like Australia, South Korea and Japan. 

The authorities inspected the company’s warehouse and found that 33 of the 140 rolls of fabric contained methamphetamine, which would have been extracted after reaching its destination.

Initial tests showed that some 1.65 tonnes of “ice’ could be extracted from the 33 rolls.  Investigators are now looking to see if the company had smuggled drugs in previous shipments. 

In a separate operation, an ONCB and police team arrested alleged drug boss Pongsak Ruenphet on January 13. Pongsak reportedly led a network smuggling amphetamine pills from Thailand’s northern border to the Northeast and South. He was apprehended while trying to flee via the 4th Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong district.

Panurat said the authorities have frozen assets worth 20 million baht linked to Pongsak in several provinces. His arrest stems from an earlier case involving a suspect caught in 2021 with 600,000 methamphetamine pills and 41 kilos of “ice” heading from Lampang to Nonthaburi.