‘MANDARIN-SPEAKING’ RING LINKED TO PENANG DRUG BUST
Thai authorities tap calls, follow money trail, find ring’s links to someone in Guangzhou and HK
A“MANDARIN-SPEAKING” syndicate was suspected to be the mastermind behind the large drug bust and discovery of a drug laboratory in Penang this month, according to an officer from Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB).
The transnational syndicate comprised Mandarin-speaking members with links in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Malaysia.
“This is our initial intelligence assessment of the syndicate behind Penang’s drug bust. We monitored phone calls made by suspected members to someone in Guangzhou, China, and Hong Kong,” said NSB deputy head Major-General Thanai Apichartsenee.
Besides eavesdropping on “communications” by suspected members, he said, NSB also tracked the money trail they left, allowing the authorities to identify key individuals in the syndicate and its mastermind.
About two weeks ago, Bukit Aman’s Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) raided a factory in Penang and discovered a drug laboratory producing millions of ringgit worth of party drugs.
Police seized two million Erimin 5 pills, more than 700kg of Erimin 5 powder, syabu, Ecstasy and other chemical substances to produce drugs, as well as drug paraphernalia, with a total estimated worth of RM500,000.
Police said the seizure was the largest since the department’s inception 22 years ago, adding that the drugs seized could have reached five million users.
The raid was the result of a successful cooperation between NCID, NSB and China’s police.
Based on information from Bukit Aman, NSB tracked two Malaysian suspects — a man and a woman suspected to be members of the syndicate — following their arrival in Suvarnabhumi Airport from Hong Kong on Sept 4.
NSB trailed the two throughout their stay here before they took a flight to the southern town of Hat Yai on Sept 11.
In Hat Yai, the two highly wanted Malaysians took the longer land route to Betong and crossed over into Pengkalan Hulu, Perak, where they were picked up by Bukit Aman officers.
Thanai said drugs produced by the syndicate in the Penang laboratory were mainly for export.
“One of the key markets for the syndicate is the Philippines. Other markets could include Australia, Taiwan and Indonesia.”
A highly-placed source in NSB said syndicate members from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong had been stepping up their involvement in the “Golden Triangle”, where most synthetic drugs for the global market were made.
Thanai said the syndicates had been facilitating the entry of precursors or chemicals to produce drugs into the Golden Triangle, as well as supplying the highlytrained “chemist” behind the drug production.
The Golden Triangle is where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.