The police in Laos accidentally committed the largest drug demonstration in Asian history

Don’t get tired of hearing about substance abuse just yet.

Law enforcement agencies are eager to dig up every illegal drug site they can find. Regardless of the drug, be it cannabis, cocaine, meth, heroin, or even amphetamine, these raids just won’t stop anytime soon. Just before the end of October, the Laos police made the biggest drug demonstrations of their career! The officers stopped a truck that, without their knowledge, was supposed to contain the content of many future headlines.

Laos and drugs

Laos is a famous hub for drug conversion to and from Myanmar. Drugs passing this transit point end up in Vietnam, Thailand and beyond. The country currently ranks 137th on a 170 list of countries ranked by their perceived corruption indices. Despite this reputation, law enforcement agencies are doing their best to stop illegal drug trafficking and smuggling operations within the country.

A poor, sparsely populated landlocked country, Laos has come a long way from being the third largest illegal opium producer and one of the highest opium addiction rates to lose that record. Now opium production in the country has dropped significantly to a marginal level. However, this does not mean that the eradication efforts have been completely successful, as the country is now producing and smuggling an untested amount of methamphetamine.

Every month, officials in Laos register drug demonstrations or arrests of drug possession. Almost every drug is banned in Laos. From marijuana to hemp, opium, etc. Failure to comply with the country’s drug laws. Severe penalties follow. Because of this, many find it ironic that the country is still registering drug offenses. For example, a drug offender has a high probability of being sentenced to death by a firing squad for very serious crimes. Other penalties include heavy fines and unavoidable prison or jail terms of up to ten years.

The biggest drug debate in Asia

The recorded amount of crystal meth and amphetamine tablets found on the drug and in the haunted location is simply amazing. International law enforcement agencies have described this drug demonstration as one of the largest drug demonstrations in Asia of all time. It has never been reported that the police in Laos have seized so many drugs!

In an interview after the drug bust, Jeremy Douglas, the regional envoy for Southeast Asia at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the bust was the biggest catch in Asian history. The meth pills seized are three times the total mess of pills seized in 2020, while the crystal meth accounts for at least a third of the total crystal meth seized last year.

The backstory

On Wednesday October 27, a suspicious truck was stopped by police officers in the Northern Bokep area of ​​Laos. This area is commonly referred to as the “Golden Triangle” and is famous for drug trafficking in the area. Police received a tip-off about the truck from a resident of Bokeo District Houayxay. The truck contained over 10 million amphetamine pills. These pills were placed in boxes by the brewery company in Laos.

Further investigation revealed that the beer company had no connection to the case. The last brewery company also released a statement expressing disappointment at being used as a cover for illegal drug activities. The company promised to take immediate action against anyone who misuses the company’s products and assets.

On the other hand, the 22-year-old driver was arrested and taken into custody. He was then questioned and examined for over two hours before he later revealed that he had been hired to transport the drugs by a 40-year-old resident of Houayxay County. The driver was persuaded to reveal the man’s place of residence and the police went to the man’s house, where they later found more missing pills and over 60 bags of crystal meth, also known as ice. The total of drugs found in the truck and house weighed over 3,300 pounds. The seized products included 1.5 tons of crystal meth and approximately 55 million amphetamine tablets.

Three busts in one week: what are the odds?

A week before the bankruptcy, at least 10 million amphetamine pills were found in a truck heading for Vientiane. Two days later, in another area of ​​Bokeo, police officers confiscated about 6 million methamphetamine tablets. The perpetrators were not caught in this case.

The media reported that the suspects most likely fled to Myanmar via the Mekong. Most of the suspects in this bust are residents of a small island on the Lao side of the Mekong River. It’s too early to say whether or not these three-drug busts made this week were from the same smuggling organization.

Golden Triangle: The Southeast Asian Drug Trafficking Center

Security agencies inside and outside Asia have identified this region as the most important region in Southeast Asia where drugs are produced and trafficked.

The area is a hotbed of human trafficking and drug cartels. This is where illegal drugs such as methamphetamine, crystal meth, opioids and other stimulants are produced and distributed to countries such as Japan and New Zealand by various Asian drug cartels.

Douglas said the surge in illegal drug activity in Laos was due to the military coup in Myanmar in February. The chaos after the coup led to a widespread relocation of drug smuggling routes within the border region. The government is doing everything possible to break the triangle with the Myanmar Shan state. However, this has increased insecurity in the Laos region.

Bottom line

The rate at which drugs are smuggled through the Laos region is high. The security measures, agreements and restrictions in neighboring countries have worsened the drug trafficking situation not only in Laos but also in southern Thailand. Police officers must remain vigilant to take action against this illegal activity.

THAILAND, LAOS AND VIETNAM, READ MORE ..

THAILAND LEGALIZES MEDICAL MARIJUANA, WHAT ABOUT ASIA?

OR..

MALAYSIA LEGALIZES MEDICAL CANNABIS, WILL IT EXPORT?