DRUGS / CHIANG MAI HAUL

Kilos of heroin, opium seized

SUBIN KHEUNKAEW

Nearly 17 kilogrammes of heroin and raw opium extract were seized by a joint police and military task force in Chiang Mai yesterday.

Officers seized the 9.4kg of refined heroin and 7.5kg of raw opium extract from two men and a woman after they were stopped and searched in their car on the main road from Fang district to Chiang Mai provincial town.

The three were stopped and searched at a checkpoint at about 4.30am. The officers found 27 bags of high-grade, No. 4 heroin hidden inside the car's air bag and the raw opium extract behind the driver's seat, said Janya Saramatcha, Region 5 director of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board.

The suspects were identified as Thanakorn Jeh-uma, 27, Lampha Khruthanee, 28, and Rusirot Weerasak, 18. They were charged with possessing drugs with intent to sell. Police said Mr Rusirot is a resident of Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district, but the other two suspects are from the South.

The task force also searched Mr Rusirot's house for additional evidence.

According to Mr Janya, heroin is normally produced on a large scale in the northern region at this time of the year. Opium extract harvested last year would be used as raw material in the process.

He said large amounts of the drug are expected to flood the market soon.

As Thailand is often used as a transit country for heroin on its way to Europe, authorities are stepping up efforts to intercept all trafficking attempts, he said.

Mr Janya said the quantity of heroin in the Thai market would be about the same as last year, despite attempts to curtail the trade. Its price, however, is likely to be the highest in five years.

Prices have risen because the quality of heroin produced from clandestine factories in neighbouring countries has increased significantly, he said.

Premium heroin produced by the United Wa State Army in Burma is now sold in northern border provinces at 350,000 baht per 700 grammes, he said.

General News
Bangkok Post
Thursday January 25, 2007