Raw Opium Worth 1M Baht Uncovered In Mae Hong Son

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Raw opium worth 1m baht uncovered in Mae Hong Son

Khajohn Boonpath

Two Myanmar nationals were arrested with 12.8 kg of opium in Mae Hong Son.

Soldiers arrested two suspects with a haul of raw opium worth one million baht on March 16 at the Ban Nampiengdin Border pass in Phabong in Mae Hong Son. Soldiers discovered a man and woman smuggling raw opium from Kayah state in Myanmar into Thailand with the intent of refining it into heroin.

On March 17, Thanin Supasaen, Deputy Governor of Mae Hong Son, Col. Boonyuen Inkwang, Deputy Commander of the Regiment, and Pol. Maj. Gen Kasemsant Bunyakarn, the commander of Mae Hong Son Provincial Police announced that two suspects had been arrested with 12.8 kg of raw opium worth 1,200,000 million baht.

The two suspects were identified as Mr. Plae, surname unknown, 43, a Tai Yai with Myanmar nationality, who lives in Tambon Mokchampae, Mae Hong Son, and Mrs. Jaeng (surname unknown), 24, a Myanmar national who lives in Tambon Phabong, Mae Hong Son.

They were arrested on the road to Mae Hong Son on their way to deliver the drugs for refinement. They confessed that they worked on a construction site in Mae Hong Son and were hired to smuggle the opium to the meeting point for 160,000 Baht. They were detained at the Ban Nampiengdin Police Station for further questioning and were accused of possessing the drugs with intent to sell.

[chiangmaimail]2011-03-19[/chiangmaimail]