LOEI NOW MAJOR DRUG GATEWAY

Amphetamine is the most popular choice

The northeastern province of Loei is now a major gateway for narcotics
smuggled into Thailand from Laos.

The number of drug cases and suspects arrested more than doubled last year,
putting the authorities under severe pressure.

The border province has proved a popular gateway because it is separated
from Laos only by the narrow Huang river, which dries up in some parts
during the summer, and the Mekong.

Narcotic sources say the trade is so rampant that one can ask for
amphetamines from a villager, who will then hop into a boat, cross the
river to Laos and return with the drug just a few hours later. Amphetamine
is proving the most popular choice.

Production bases exist in the Laotian town of Kaen Thao, in Saibouri
province, opposite Loei's Thali district. They are run by Laotians but
funded by Thais.

Anti-narcotics officials give most of their attention to smuggled
amphetamines because they are cheap to produce but returns are high.

An amphetamine pill costs 30 baht in Laos but 100-130 baht in Thailand.

"A lot of people have become drug traffickers. Despite arrests they usually
return to the same business after being freed. Some people are frequent
residents of the local prison here," said an official who did not want to
be named.

Traffickers use a range of smuggling tactics, including removing the copper
from plastic-covered wire and then filling it with amphetamine pills.

They are then fitted to motorcycles to look like part of the bike. The drug
has also been found hidden in side mirrors, shock absorbers, and brakes.

Sometimes the motorcycles are seized by the drug suppliers if the Thais
fail to clear their debts.

A Laotian policeman revealed that drug gangs in Kaen Thao were more heavily
armed than the local authorities and therefore difficult to suppress.

Several Laotian officials had been killed in raids so suppression work had
been suspended.

In Thailand the number of drug cases between January and November last year
increased by 124 percent to 597, and the number of arrests was up by 113
percent to 649, compared with the same period in 1996.

Local police seized 2.1 tons of opium, 1.7 tons of dried marijuana, 107
tons of fresh marijuana, and 134 kilogrammes of amphetamines (about 130,000
pills) during the period.

As of the middle of last month Loei provincial prison was overcrowded with
856 prisoners. It is supposed to accommodate 454, said prison commander
Vijit Somrak. The prison was now running out of money.

Mr Vijit expects the number to rise to 1,000 by March. The jail has only 51
staff.