Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya will visit Myanmar for talks today with President Thein Sein, with the perennial problem of drug smuggling along the Thai-Myanmar border at the top his agenda.
Gen Paiboon said yesterday he will meet the Myanmar president in Nay Pyi Taw for a one-day trip to discuss measures to tackle the influx of illicit drugs across the border into Thailand.
His trip follows the recent visit by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who gave notice of the topics he wanted to discuss, Gen Paiboon said.
These included the involvement of ethnic minority groups in cross-border drug trafficking.
During the visit, the Mae Fa Luang Foundation will introduce its alternative agricultural projects in Myanmar, which encourage villagers to plant cash crops in former bases of drug production.
Meanwhile, Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) police have arrested three African men on charges of possession of crystal methamphetamine with intent to sell.
Alfred Leboea, a 30-year-old Lesotho national, and Nigerians Peter Ebuka Iloh, 36, and Eze Clement Agu, 30, were detained on Wednesday with two kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine in 10 small bags on Lang Suan Road in Bangkok, NSB chief Rewat Klinkeson said yesterday.
Mr Iloh and Mr Leboea were arrested at the Urbana Langsuan Hotel and Mr Agu at a 7-Eleven store in the same area.
Pol Maj Gen Rewat said the bureau put them under surveillance after receiving a tip-off from informants who said the three were sending the drug to African customers in Bangkok.
Their arrest underscored concerns of anti-drug police about widespread drug activities involving Africans in the country, he said. The bureau is targeting Africans following reports that 15,000 visitors from the continent are illegally staying in Thailand.
Apart from the arrest of the three Africans, NSB police have also arrested three Chinese men in Samut Sakhon. From them, they seized 620,000 speed pills, 10kg of crystal methamphetamine, a Toyota Fortuner and a motorcycle, NSB acting chief Rawat Klinkasorn said.