Police in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos have made one of Asia’s biggest-ever drug busts, seizing more than 55.6 million methamphetamine pills in a single raid. The drugs were found in the northern province of Bokeo, the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper reported on Thursday.
The drugs were found on Wednesday in sacks in a house that police searched after earlier discovering 10 million tablets hidden in beer crates on a truck on its way to the capital, Vientiane, the newspaper said in an online report. Information from the truck driver led them to the house, where 65 bags of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice, were also found, it said. Lao National Radio said they weighed a total of 1537kg.
Two men were said to be under arrest. The newspaper said the Lao Brewery Company, the owner of the crates, issued a statement denying involvement in drug smuggling. “We are deeply disappointed that our crates have been abused as a cover for illegal activities,” it quoted the statement as saying.
Bokeo borders Thailand and Myanmar and is part of the Golden Triangle, a remote geographical area with a long history of involvement with illegal drug production and smuggling.
