Major drug crackdown nets 100 million baht worth assets and 10 suspects

Narcotic police have seized about 100 million baht worth of assets and arrested 10 suspects in a major crackdown of a drug trafficking network covering ten provinces.

Hundreds of police were mobilized in carrying out raids of 61 targets in Chiang Rai, Phayao, Petchabun, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chainat, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Pathom and Songkhla provinces said to be linked to the Tern family’s network.

The seized assets include land and buildings, a hostel, cars, motorcycles, gold ornaments, cash and bank accounts.

The major crackdown was a follow-up operation after the arrest on March 15-16 of Kornthong Seesaikerd, a Hmong tribesmen, and nine other accomplices as they were trying to smuggle three million methamphetamine pills in five cars to their customers.

Narcotics police said that the drugs originated from Myanmar and then transported by boat in the Mekong river to Laos and smuggled overland into Loei province and transported by cars or trucks to the central region where they were distributed to buyers with a portion smuggled further down to the southern region.

Police said that the Tern family drug gang usually made use of their drug money to buy properties and to set up front companies to launder their drug money.

Thai PBS

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