Provincial Police Regional 9 acting commander Lt Gen Ronnasin Phusara said officers made the latest seizure estimated at 520 million Baht (RM66 million) in the Bangklum area near Hatyai four days ago.
“Much of the drugs that were seized was meant to be smuggled to Malaysia, which would have served as a transit point before the drugs were sent to other countries,” he told the media here yesterday.
Ronnasin said two local men believed to be drug couriers, aged 29 and 37, were detained.
The drugs, he said, originated from northern Thailand and belonged to a transnational drug syndicate known to Thai police as “Phor Liang Tee”.
He said through investigations and intelligence gathering, the authorities had identified at least 11 individuals linked to the drug syndicate.
The two latest seizures of “ice” bring the total amount seized by Thai authorities in Hatyai over the past week to over 1.35 tonnes, estimated to be worth over one billion Baht (RM120 million).
According to Thai authorities, both shipments were heading to Malaysia.
Police investigators told Bernama they had yet to ascertain whether the cases were linked or planned by the same syndicate.
Three Malaysian police officers have been sent to Bangkok to question the Malaysians arrested in last week’s operation.