Drug trafficking moves to Northeastern Thailand route

BANGKOK, December 7 (TNA) - Maj. Gen. Kanok Poomuang, commander of Sakon Nakhon provincial army command under Thailand’s Second Army Region, said drug traffickers have noticeably switched their illegal drug smuggling from northern Thailand to the northeast, due to recent heavy suppression by authorities. He said smugglers usually smuggle drug into the country through Nakhon Phanom province bordering Laos and then to Nong Khai, Loei and Udon Thani, causing the smuggling to spread in the entire region. Major of the addicts are youths, said Maj. Gen. Kanok, adding that the Second Army Region has joined hands with border patrol police and provincial policemen in setting up checkpoints within communities and along the Mekong River to prevent smuggling, especially when the water level of the river receded. (TNA)