Four-nation taskforce tackles Mekong drug trade

20 February 2015
Four-nation taskforce tackles Mekong drug trade
Cracking down on the illegal drug trade in the Golden Triangle is a tough call. Alleged American drug trafficker Joseph Manuel Hunter (C) is escorted by Thai commandos as he arrives to board a chartered jet for extradition to the USA at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok, Thailand, September 27, 2013. Photo: Narong Sangnak/EPA

Thailand, Myanmar, China and Laos are working together to tackle the Mekong triangle illegal drug trade, according to The Nation on February 20.
In its first two operations aimed at suppressing the drug trade in the region known as the Golden Triangle, the four-nation taskforce has seized 30 tonnes of chemical precursors that could potentially produce 300 million amphetamine tablets, the Thai secretary-general of the Office of Narcotics Control Board said February 19.
Mr Permpong Chaovalit said between January 12 and February 18 the Safe Mekong Coordination Centre made 1,289 arrests in 1,117 raids in Thailand, China, Laos and Myanmar - member countries of the SMCC - and seized 9,444,468 amphetamine tablets, 440 kilogrammes of "ice" flakes, 180 kilogrammes of heroin and 59 kilogrammes of opium liquid.
The operations were conducted in China's Yunnan province, Myanmar's Shan State, Laos' Bor Kaew and Nam Tha provinces and Thailand's Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces.
Five major operations were conducted in China, assisted by anti-drug counterparts based in Guangzhou and Shanghai.