Crime Thailand Urges China to Pressure Wa Region to Extradite Major Drug Traffickers

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of SiamRath

 

Thailand has called on China to help exert pressure on the Wa region to extradite key drug traffickers wanted by Thai authorities, in an effort to dismantle transnational narcotics networks operating across Southeast Asia.

 

Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanurat Lakboon, Secretary-General of Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), led the Thai delegation at the 20th Thailand-China Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation, held in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Wei Xiaojun, Executive Secretary of the National Narcotics Control Commission of China.

 

Prior to the main session, the Thai delegation paid courtesy visits to Mr. Li Yi, Commander of the Heilongjiang Provincial Police and the province’s Deputy Governor. Chinese officials praised the longstanding cooperation between the two nations in the fight against narcotics, while the Thai side reaffirmed the view that drug issues transcend borders and require robust cross-border collaboration. Past joint efforts have already resulted in the arrest of several major suspects who had fled across national lines.

 

During the bilateral talks, Lt. Gen. Phanurat thanked the People’s Republic of China for its key role in promoting regional stability and for being a long-standing strategic partner in combating drug trafficking. He reiterated that methamphetamine remains the most prevalent and dangerous narcotic in Thailand, prompting the Thai government to declare drug suppression a national emergency. The “Seal, Stop, Safe” action plan has been launched, resulting in a 20-fold increase in drug seizures.

 

Both nations agreed to strengthen cooperation in five key areas:

 

1. Joint Pressure on Production Zones in the Golden Triangle: The two countries committed to increasing international efforts to suppress illicit drug production in known hotspots, particularly within the Wa region.

 

2. Intelligence Sharing and Joint Investigations: Enhanced information exchange and collaborative investigations will focus on disrupting transnational organised crime groups, especially those smuggling narcotics via maritime routes.

 

3. Control of Precursors and Chemical Substances: The Thai delegation expressed interest in adopting China’s strict legal framework for regulating precursor chemicals, which includes export bans to high-risk nations such as Laos, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.

 

4. Support for Extradition Requests: China agreed to assist in ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the extradition of fugitive drug traffickers hiding in the Wa-controlled areas, thereby dismantling critical links in regional drug trafficking networks.

 

5. Trilateral and Multilateral Cooperation: The two countries pledged to deepen three-way cooperation between Thailand, China and Myanmar and also enhance intelligence exchange with the United States to curb the smuggling of drugs and chemical precursors.

 

The meeting marked another step forward in the deepening of strategic drug enforcement cooperation between Thailand and China amid rising regional concerns over synthetic drug proliferation and cross-border trafficking.

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from SiamRath 2025-08-01