An official raid operation has seized 50 million tonnes of chemical precursors, estimated to be enough to make 1.1 billion speed pills, from a warehouse in Samut Prakan's Phra Pradaeng district.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul travelled to the raided warehouse on Suksawat 49 Road Tuesday night immediately after returning from Vietnam.
Upon arrival, he said that the raids resulted from collaboration with the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, which shared information about narcotics networks connected with the Thai drug kingpin known as “Noo Chen”.
The criminal was extradited from South Korea in April.
According to the prime minister, chemicals seized in raids at 10 locations have been traced back to three companies.
In all, authorities were able to confiscate 9,105 kilogrammes of acetone, 225kg of hydrochloric acid, 10,170kg of acetic acid, 4,500kg of sulfuric acid and 26,000kg of dioctyl phthalate.
If the chemicals were smuggled to the Golden Triangle, they could be turned into 1.1 billion speed pills or 21 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice”, according to officials.
The calculated output of speed pills would have been equal to the average quantity taken in by authorities on a yearly basis.
