Police arrest suspected drug smugglers with meth from Chinese-run Golden Triangle

Thai police arrested four suspected gangsters allegedly smuggling meth from the notorious Golden Triangle region.

Two men, Anuwat and Kitthichai, and two women, Antika and Panaphat, were nabbed by cops along Phet Kasem Road in Chumphon province, Thailand, on September 22.

Police found in their car four sacks containing 480,000 meth pills destined for southern Thai provinces.

The arrest was made following an investigation by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) into a gold shop robbery in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

The black toyota Vios used in the theft was found to have been frequently travelling between Surat Thani province in the south and Chiang Rai province in the north where hard drugs are frequently smuggled through the country's border. It was always accompanied by a gray Toyota Vios, leading police to believe it was part of a drug delivery convoy.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Ritthichai Chumchuay, Deputy Superintendent of CSD Sub-Division 5, said: 'On the morning of September 22, the target group of cars was found driving from Chiang Rai Province heading to the south. The Chumphon Highway Police were mobilised to intercept them.'

The group allegedly admitted that they were hired to smuggle drugs into Thailand.

One car was assigned to scout for police checkpoints while the other delivered the contraband. They were paid 40,000 THB and 100,000 THB (922 GBP and 2,305 GBP) respectively. There was constant communication between the two vehicles throughout the trips, they said.

Police said the suspects will be charged with 'jointly possessing for sale Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine or ya ba) without permission' and 'causing widespread distribution of drugs affecting the security of the state or general public'.

Bloomberg citing data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that a record 169 tonnes of methamphetamine was seized in SEA last year, 82 per cent of which came from the Golden Triangle - a hotbed of criminal activity where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.

At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.

In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.

The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.

International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.