More Than 200,000 Meth Pills, 80 Kilograms of Crystal Meth, and 200 Guns Seized in Region 8 Police Crackdown

Phuket –

More than 200,000 methamphetamine pills, 80 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, and 200 guns were seized in two weeks in an upper Southern Thailand crime crackdown.

Lieutenant General Surapapong Thanomjit, the Region 8 Police Commander based in Phuket, revealed to the press that from September 25^th to October 11^th, 2023 they have arrested in total 1,635 suspects. In total, 208 guns, 289,104 methamphetamine pills, 80 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 2.9 grams of heroin, and 4.18 grams of ecstasy were seized.

Lieutenant General Surapapong told Thai media that the crackdown was especially for tourists safety as more Chinese and Kazakhstani tourists were visiting due to a visa exemption scheme and during the famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival.

For context:

The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival will be held for nine days starting this upcoming weekend. This year the festival will be from October 15th to October 23rd, 2023.

The Thai government’s free-visa policy for Chinese and Kazakhstani tourists has been endorsed in the Royal Gazette and published on Tuesday, September 19th.

Phuket welcomes tourists from China into the Thailand visa exemption program.