Former Mayor & Son Caught Smuggling Meth Pills from Laos Network

Picture courtesy of Komchadluek.

Police in Roi Et province have arrested a former four-term local mayor and his son after intercepting a cross-border drug trafficking operation linked to a major Lao network.

At a press briefing on 27 August, Roi Et governor Chatchawan Benjasiriwong, together with Pol Maj Gen Phumwit Vetchakama, Roi Et provincial police chief and the provincial narcotics suppression team, announced the seizure of more than 400,000 methamphetamine tablets.

Investigators had tracked two vehicles suspected of transporting drugs from the Laos border through Maha Chana Chai district in Yasothon, en route to Phanom Phrai, Roi Et. One pickup truck carried the drugs, while a car acted as a scout vehicle.

The pickup driver was identified as Mr Thongdee, 66, a former village headman, president of the district cultural council and four-time mayor of the local subdistrict administration. The car was driven by his son, Mr Sarawut, 33, with another man, Mr Nopparit, 33, travelling alongside.

A search of the car revealed a sack hidden in the boot containing 200,000 meth pills. Upon further investigation, suspects admitted they were part of a wider trafficking network, hired by a Lao contact known only as “Mr Fluke”. The group had been tasked with delivering a total of 600,000 pills.

Police discovered that 200,000 tablets had already been delivered in Sisaket province, with another 200,000 destined for Phanom Phrai before the arrest. Acting on information from the suspects, officers raided a house in Hua Taphan district, Amnat Charoen, seizing a further 200,000 pills, bringing the total confiscated to over 400,000.

Pol Maj Gen Phumwit said the case highlights the scale of transnational narcotics trafficking in the northeast. He stressed that authorities are intensifying efforts to dismantle such networks and urged the public to provide any information that may aid investigations.

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khomchadluek 2025-08-29