ADDICTS ROAM SAMUT PRAKAN

Samut Prakan has a burgeoning drug problem, provincial governor Sawang
Srisakun said yesterday.

A survey estimated there were a record 60,000 drug addicts in the province,
of a total 1.36 million residents.

Drug peddling was a way of life in most communities, and the problem was
present in all levels of schools.

If red was used to signify a serious problem, Samut Prakan would certainly
be painted ``very dark red''.

The province was home to heavy industries and the transport channels that
served them made it easy for drugs to enter the area.

Campaigns to educate students against drug abuse had been launched in
schools and communities.

Despite a high number of arrests, the problem had not abated.

Addiction was the tip of the iceberg. Drug users needed cash to buy drugs
and ended up as pedlars who in turn contributed to the expansion of the
drug network.

This province was a shipping point for drugs heading overseas. They were
loaded onto small boats and sold to trawlers plying international waters.

The trawlers normally stayed at sea for up to a year. Their catch was
shuttled ashore by ``tour boats'' which also brought back drugs.

Pol Col Amnaj Chatrakul, deputy provincial police chief, said capturing
traffickers was no easy task as arrest information was often leaked.

Offenders rounded up were mostly small-scale distributors or sellers, with
little evidence seized.