First direct overseas drug base raid by a South Korean government agency
South Korea's National Intelligence Service announced Wednesday that it had jointly raided 10 drug precursor chemical warehouses in Bangkok and other locations across Thailand with the Thai Office of the Narcotics Control Board on Tuesday, seizing all 49.98 metric tons of chemicals — including acetone, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid — that could be used to manufacture narcotics. It was the first time a South Korean government agency had directly conducted an enforcement operation against an overseas drug supply base.
The seized precursor materials were sufficient to produce 21 metric tons of methamphetamine or 1.1 billion yaba tablets — enough to simultaneously dose 700 million people if manufactured and distributed as drugs. The street value of the haul was estimated at 8.4 trillion won (approximately $5.53 billion).
Thai authorities deployed more than 100 personnel from five agencies, including the ONCB and military and police units, for the operation. The NIS also dispatched specialized counter-narcotics officers to Thailand at the Thai side's request to conduct the joint raid.
The operation traced back to April 7, when the NIS arrested a Thai national identified as Thapanan inside South Korea at the ONCB's urgent request and extradited him to Thailand.
Thapanan was a high-profile drug trafficker known as "Asia's biggest drug lord," said to have controlled more than 50 percent of Thailand's drug distribution network. Thai authorities had issued arrest warrants against him 50 times over 10 years. He had entered South Korea under a false identity to undergo plastic surgery and was apprehended by Korean authorities acting on intelligence shared by Thailand.
Through their joint investigation, the ONCB and NIS established that Thapanan had been importing precursor chemicals from abroad, manufacturing finished narcotics in the Golden Triangle — the world's largest drug-producing region — and distributing them to countries including Australia and South Korea.
The agencies also uncovered large-scale warehouses inside Thailand where drug precursor materials were being stockpiled in bulk, prompting the seizure operation.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul expressed gratitude for the NIS's cooperation at a media briefing, the NIS said. The agency said it had been deepening its cooperation with the ONCB as drug crimes linking Thailand and South Korea have grown increasingly serious in recent years.
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