# Thailand seizes nearly 2.4 tons of crystal meth hidden as corn flour packages
Event date: 2025-06-23
Thai authorities say they seized more than 2 metric tons of crystal methamphetamine from a tourist boat near a pier in eastern Thailand and arrested eight men in a case that highlights how traffickers continue to move large drug shipments through the country.
The Department of Special Investigation said the haul totaled nearly 2.4 metric tons, or about 2.6 tons, and was discovered before it could be smuggled out of the country. Officials said the drugs had been packed into plastic bags disguised as corn flour packages, with each bag containing about one kilogram.
The arrests were made on Saturday in Rayong province, according to officials, who said the men were suspected of trying to move the drugs through Thailand’s southern border. Authorities did not identify the intended destination or say where the shipment originated.
The estimated value of the methamphetamine is more than 3 billion baht, or about $90.8 million, if sold abroad. Thai authorities also seized a van and a truck they believed were tied to the smuggling operation.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra praised the officers involved and said her government was serious about anti-drug policy. The seizure is one of the largest in recent months and comes as Southeast Asia continues to grapple with a rapidly expanding methamphetamine trade.
United Nations experts have said neighboring Myanmar supplies most of the region’s methamphetamine and heroin. A U.N. drug agency report last month said illicit drug trade across Southeast Asia is growing quickly, with record seizures in 2024 reaching 236 tons, up 24% from 2023.
Thailand sits at the center of a long-running trafficking corridor. The “Golden Triangle,” where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, was historically associated with opium and heroin production. In recent decades, methamphetamine has taken over because it can be made at industrial scale and moved more easily across borders.
The latest seizure also shows how traffickers continue to disguise shipments in ordinary goods. In this case, the use of corn flour packaging was meant to reduce suspicion and move the drugs by boat and then over land, but the operation was intercepted before it could leave Thailand.
The case is part of a wider regional pattern in which authorities have reported larger seizures, more sophisticated concealment and more diverse transport routes. In that context, the Rayong bust is not just a domestic enforcement story. It is also another sign that Southeast Asia’s meth market remains highly adaptive.
Officials said the haul was stopped in time to keep it from reaching the market, but they did not say whether the case is connected to other trafficking networks in the region.
*Source: AP 5763*
