Thailand junta launches anti-drug raids across Bangkok

The Thai authorities launched anti-drug raids across Bangkok on Tuesday sending scores of “addicts” to rehabilitation centres after conducting door-to-door urine tests, the police said, in the latest junta crackdown on law and order.

The pre-dawn operation by police and army officers saw the arrest of 22 small-time dealers while 83 suspected drug users were dispatched for treatment, deputy Bangkok police chief Ittipon Piriyapinyo told AFP. “We went to targeted places – where there are teenagers gathering, people suspected of taking drugs or small-time drug-sellers,” said Mr Ittipon.

The suspects were rounded-up in neighbourhoods across the Thai capital after admitting to drug use or taking a urine test, he added. “If they don’t go to rehab, they might be sent to court but if they go voluntarily, they will be considered as patients.”

The operation was a “test mission” for a longer campaign of anti-drug raids, initiated by the authorities including the junta, aimed at sending 900 drug users to rehab, he said.

Straits Times

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