Pubdate: Fri, 02 Mar 2001
Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2001
Contact:  http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/
Author: Anucha Charoenpo

TRAFFICKERS MAY GO FOR NEW STRATEGIES

Big Cities Are Storage And Transit Points

Narcotics officials believe drug syndicates will try to develop new 
marketing strategies to avoid arrests following a spate of successful 
police crackdowns resulting in the seizure of a large amount of drugs and cash.

They said the anti-narcotics drive during the past two months had seriously 
hurt the operations of most drug syndicates associated with the United Wa 
State Army (UWSA) in Burma.

Pol Maj-Gen Inthadej Pornpeeraparn, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau deputy 
commissioner, said police operations had temporarily frozen the inflow of 
drugs and forced drug traders to find new strategies in making deliveries.

With the newly enforced anti-money laundering law, millions of baht worth 
of drug money could not be transferred through the banking system, and 
millions of methamphetamine tablets believed left in the hands of 
syndicates were now vulnerable to police raids.

Drugs dealers would have to use more sophisticated tactics from now to 
reach their customers, he said.

Pol Maj-Gen Inthadej said information sharing on drug dealers was badly 
needed if the on-going suppression drive was to achieve maximum success.

He said Pol Lt-Gen Priewphan Damapong, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau 
commissioner, had emphasised on the need for investigators to try to dig 
deeper into every drug case. Information obtained from the probe could lead 
them to the key players.

He said drug and money seizures in recent raids in Bangkok was a fine 
example of a successful police operation which resulted from information 
gained through the seizure of seven million speed pills in Ranong inJanuary.

Chatchai Suthiklom, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics 
Control Board (ONCB), said he was alarmed by the massive seizure of drugs 
and laundered money by police.

The incidents could be interpreted that drug syndicates were using Bangkok 
and other big cities as their storage and transit points for drugs more 
than border villages as his agency used to believe in the past.

He said from his intelligence information, drugs were being directly 
trafficked to destinations such as Bangkok and other big cities in the 
region after crackdowns against them were stepped up along the border.

Mr Chatchai said the ONCB was closely co-ordinating with narcotics police 
and other agencies concerned to monitor the movements of drug traffickers 
both inside and outside the country.

The 30 million baht seized by police this week was handed to the Money 
Laundering Commission yesterday.
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