Police Seize 4 Million Meth Pills Dumped Near Lampang Temple
The article reports that police in Lampang seized 4 million methamphetamine pills found dumped in bags near Wat Ku Kham temple. The drugs were likely abandoned by traffickers due to intense checkpoint operations in the area. Forensic teams
LAMPANG — Police have seized a massive haul of 4 million methamphetamine pills discovered dumped in a grassy area in front of Wat Ku Kham in Ban Phae Ku Kham, Moo 3, Phra Chao Thanthai Road, Ton Thong Chai Subdistrict, Mueang District, Lampang Province.
On October 29, officers from the Thipphaya Chang Radio Center at Mueang Lampang Police Station received a tip from a concerned citizen about several suspicious black garbage bags discarded in the grass near the temple. The report was escalated through the chain of command to Pol. Col. Kamson Bumrungyot, Superintendent of Mueang Lampang Police Station, and Pol. Lt. Col. Thani Tanchanakul, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation. They led a combined force of patrol officers, investigators, administrative officials including Mueang Lampang District Chief Thanarat Sai-thep, Deputy District Chief, the Kamnan of Ton Thong Chai Subdistrict, and municipal officers to inspect the scene.
An initial search uncovered 20 large black bags, each containing 200,000 meth pills, totaling approximately 4 million tablets. Forensic police from the Lampang Provincial Police Forensic Science Division and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Region 5 were called in to meticulously collect evidence. Pol. Lt. Col. Chuwit Kongkaew, Deputy Commander of Lampang Provincial Police, oversaw the operation on site.
Pol. Lt. Col. Chuwit stated that this batch of meth was likely smuggled from border areas, either carried by human couriers or transported by a relay team. However, due to the current intensive police and administrative checkpoint operations across the region, the trafficking network apparently feared being tipped off or caught at a checkpoint. They decided to stash the massive quantity of drugs in the grass to await a safer opportunity to move it, but ultimately abandoned the haul and fled under pressure from the tight checkpoint network.
"We have ordered forensic teams to urgently collect latent fingerprints and DNA from the packaging to compare against databases of known offenders and individuals with drug-related histories," Pol. Lt. Col. Chuwit said. "We are confident this will lead to the identification and arrest of those responsible."
District Chief Thanarat added that village heads and community leaders had reported suspicious activity over the past three days involving two unfamiliar vehicles — a Mitsubishi and a Honda — circling the village, starting engines and running air conditioning while parked discreetly in the area on multiple occasions. The parking spot used by these suspicious vehicles matches the exact location where the drugs were dumped.
This pattern resembles previous incidents in Thoen and Mae Phrik Districts where traffickers abandoned contraband in similar fashion. Authorities have instructed kamnans and village heads to heighten surveillance, increase vigilance for anomalies, and review CCTV footage from surrounding areas to accelerate the hunt for the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
