IN A nationwide operation police broke up a major drug trafficking network which was working on laundering 200 billion baht with 300 suspected arrested including gold shop and oil business owners, INN News report this afternoon (June 19).
Seized in this operation was a total of 700,000 tablets of methamphetamine (Speed) and around five kilogrammes of Ice.
Deputy National Police Chief Pol Maj Gen Suchart Theerasawat said big raids were mounted in Bangkok and various others provinces such as Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi as well as those in the northern and the south after members of four key drug networks were rounded up with one of them being the Marigold network.
These networks have been laundering money obtained from the narcotics trade through the purchase of gold bars at gold shops in Wang Burapha area, Chinatown, and also trading in petroleum and other types of businesses.
The sum being laundered this time was almost 200 billion baht, he added.
The Marigold network dealt in both Speed and Ice and police detectives have found out that the mastermind is still in Thailand.
Some orders were also being issued from prisons and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau is regularly coordinating with the Director General of the Department of Corrections on this issue.
Further investigation uncovered that two to three gold shops in Yaowaraj area of Chinatown laundered money for drug traffickers. After being arrested some of them had confessed to doing so.
A total of 400 arrest warrants were issued for this operation and nearly 300 suspects were arrested. Aside from gold shop and oil business operators others included people who opened accounts to transfer and withdraw money for these drug runners.
Aside from netting a huge amount of Speed and Ice, police also seized 259 items worth 70 million baht.
Police are chasing the other suspects including the mastermind.
CAPTION:
Police teams during drug raids in Bangkok and some other provinces. Photos: Sanook.com
