Truck driver arrested with 529kg ketamine in drug trafficking network crackdown
A truck driver was arrested in a major drug trafficking network bust involving 529 kilogrammes of ketamine in Thailand.
Suspected drug runner Niphon allegedly used his freight truck to collect narcotics in central Thailand before transporting the illegal shipments to the southern region.
He was implicated in a 529kg ketamine smuggling case in May 2025, and had been fleeing police for more than a year before he was arrested in a carpark in Chachoengsao province on August 18.
Footage shows officers detaining the suspected courier in the Bang Pakong district. They seized his 10-wheeler, worth around 1 million baht, which he reportedly used to deliver illegal drugs.
The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) said Niphon's arrest brings the number of key suspects detained to 11.
Police said they have also seized and frozen assets worth more than 16 million baht for investigation.
The case began with the seizure of 529kg of ketamine in Chiang Rai and Phayao provinces in May 2025, which led to a probe into a wider trafficking network.
Authorities have since arrested seven alleged couriers, including alleged ringleader Lalita, who was caught with a luxury car, and Phittayathon, who managed the financial transactions.
The operation also targeted corrupt Thai officials, including a Police Lieutenant Colonel who was arrested in Loei.
Police Major Suriya Singkamol, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the crackdown was carried out under the government's policy to dismantle organised drug networks.
He added: 'The ONCB reaffirms its commitment to strict law enforcement and will pursue and prosecute all offenders to the fullest extent of the law.'
Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug use, production, and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.
Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.
