The mail service is becoming a popular channel to smuggle ecstasy, with almost 30,000 pills of the drug seized in the past few days, according to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB).
Bureau chief, Chinnapat Sarasin, told a press conference yesterday that a suspected drug dealer was nabbed at his home in Bangkok's Srinakarin area at the weekend after the post office reported receiving a package of 7,300 ecstasy pills. Monton Ngammana, 25, allegedly admitted he had ordered the narcotics from Germany via a website and paid for them in bitcoin.
Over the weekend, police also arrested Evgeny Sergeev, 33, a Russian, at a condominium in Sam Sen district and confiscated 1,500 ecstasy pills. The pills were packed in coffee bean bags that had also been sent from Germany.
Last week, the NSB also arrested four other suspected drug dealers at an apartment in Bangkok's Kaset Nawamin area, and confiscated 20,000 ecstasy pills which had been sent by courier service from Germany, Pol Lt Gen Chinnaphat told press yesterday.
The NSB held yesterday's briefing to announce arrests and large seizures of narcotics in a nationwide crackdown.
The biggest seizure came in Kamphaeng Phet province where 5.3 million ya ba or methamphetamine pills were confiscated. Police acting on a tip-off searched two cars and found the haul hidden in fertiliser bags. Police said three men -- Jiradech Isipreeya, 39, Somporn Pitakwanakul, 35, and Anuthep Saeyang, 25 -- confessed to being hired to deliver drugs from Chiang Mai to sell in the Central provinces.
Anti-drugs police also arrested two suspected traffickers over the weekend in Phattalung province. Theerapan Kongsri, 31 and Chakkrit Saengmanee, 28, were carrying 1.2 tonnes of marijuana in their car when searched by police.
Meanwhile, anti-narcotics officials in Trat province found more bags of crystal meth or ya ice washed ashore on Sunday. Almost 450kg of ice has been found on the shores of the eastern province since last Tuesday.
Pornthip Jampong, director of Narcotics Control Office Region 2, told media that 12 three-layered plastic bags packed with a total 39kg of crystal meth were found in various locations along the shoreline in Ko Kut district and Muang district, in Trat province.
She said the drugs likely came from Shan state in Myanmar as they bore the "888" hallmark of Shan manufacturers. Police had yet to apprehend any of the smugglers while the navy had detected no shipwrecks in the past week.
"We can only assume the drugs came from a shipwreck, and we expect to see more bags wash ashore this week," she said, asking those who find suspicious looking bags in the area to contact police immediately.
