The bumper haul of contraband was presented to the press at the Region 8 Police headquarters in Mai Khao, in northern Phuket, yesterday afternoon (April 12).
Provincial Police Region 8 Commander Gen Sorasak Yenprem explained that the weapons and drugs were seized in raids throughout the seven Southern Thai provinces that Region 8 Police are responsible for: Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Chumphon, Surat Thani and Nakhon Sri Thammarat.
“We carried out the campaign on April 1-10 to make sure it was done before the Songkran holidays,” Gen Sorasak said.
“We focused on major crime cases involving weapons, drugs, gambling, prostitution, human trafficking and previously issued arrest warrants,” he added.
In total, police arrested 213 suspects involved in 209 cases of illegal firearms, with 167 firearms seized, including 14 shotguns, 37 homemade pistols, an assault rifle with a targeting scope, a machine gun and even a M61 hand grenade.
Other items seized which were on display at the press conference included 683,361 methamphetamine pills (ya bah), over 1.779 kilos of crystal meth (ya ice), over 56.8 kilos of marijuana and over 696 kilos of kratom.
In addition, during the campaign 34 fugitives were apprehended on previously issued arrest warrants.
“Region 8 Police are giving their full attention to keep people safe. In this campaign, an impressive number of arrests and seizures weapon were made,” Gen Sorasak said.
“It is our job to protect people from crime. I have this message for all criminals: ‘If you plan to do any crime in Region 8, we have already defeated you,” he added.