Police seized assets worth more than 93.3 million baht during a raid on a livestock farm in Roi Et that was used to launder money for a drug trafficking network.
Officers from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau searched NP Farm Mueang At 888 in Ban Namkham, At Samat district, at around 10am yesterday, August 5, as part of an ongoing investigation into a regional drug distribution network.
The investigation began after the arrests of two suspects, Janthasak and Kanlaya, who were caught with 62,000 methamphetamine pills, locally known as Yaba, on November 17 last year.
Police said further inquiries found the pair had been distributing drugs under the instructions of another suspect, Thanawat. Officers later arrested Thanawat and two additional suspects on May 15, seizing 325 Yaba tablets.
Investigators found Thanawat worked for a larger trafficking network led by a suspect identified as Niphon, who is believed to hide in Laos. According to police, Niphon instructed members of the network through the LINE messaging application and arranged for payments after each delivery.
Police said the payments were collected at NP Farm Mueang At 888, where two men, identified as Denchai and Worrawate, distributed cash or transferred money to members of the network.
The investigation expanded to four bank accounts linked to the suspects, leading officers to seize assets worth more than 93.3 million baht from Niphon’s wife, 33 year old Chanoknuch.
The confiscated assets included four plots of farmland covering about 6,400 square metres, cars, trucks, motorcycles and livestock. Police said the farm also housed about 1,000 fighting cocks, 10 ornamental buffaloes used in beauty competitions and several purebred cattle.
According to investigators, Chanoknuch and other relatives of Niphon managed the farm and its assets, which police allege were used to launder proceeds from drug trafficking.
The Narcotics Suppression Bureau described the operation as a significant blow to a major drug trafficking network operating in northeastern Thailand.
Police have not disclosed further details of efforts to locate and arrest Niphon, who is believed to remain in Laos.
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