NAKHON PHANOM, THAILAND – Heavily armed smugglers fled across the Mekong River at night, leaving behind a massive shipment of crystal methamphetamine.
Flight under cover of darkness
Security forces on the Mekong intercepted the smugglers late Friday evening in Tha Uthen district. The traffickers had approached from Laos in a narrow long-tail boat across the border river.
When the group noticed the patrol, they immediately abandoned their valuable cargo on the riverbank. They sped back across the river in their boat before officers could arrest them.
The seal of the Golden Horse
Investigators discovered twelve sacks hidden in nearby bushes. Inside were 500 packages, each weighing exactly one kilogram and disguised in Chinese tea packaging.
The packets bore a logo reading “Golden Flying Horse.” This brand indicated drugs of extremely high purity, typically produced in the mountainous regions of the Golden Triangle.
Millions packed in plastic
Officers classified the discovery as Category 1 narcotics. Each kilogram had an estimated black-market value of up to 500,000 baht, or around 13,000 euros.
In total, the haul was valued at up to 250 million baht. The drugs were intended for the Thai market and onward trafficking to other countries.
A deadly border
The region around Nakhon Phanom has been the scene of an intense battle against drug syndicates. Over the past six months, authorities there seized almost 30 million pills.
In addition to the tablets, investigators removed more than three tons of crystal meth from circulation. Despite strict controls, smuggling gangs continued to try their luck on the river every night.
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