Nearly 100,000 Pills of 'Yaba' Seized in Smuggling Operation from Cambodia
Officers seized nearly 100,000 yaba pills smuggled from Cambodia at the Sa Kaeo border after suspects abandoned the contraband and fled when spotted during patrol operations on April 26.
On April 26, special task force officers from Aranyaprathet, working with Company 1206 Rangers from the 12th Ranger Battalion, conducted border patrol operations in Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province to intercept illegal goods smuggling.
During their patrol, officers spotted two suspects carrying large gray boxes crossing the border into Thai territory near Khlong Kan boundary canal (also known as Khlong Nam Sai), approximately 10 meters from the border between checkpoints 48-49 at Ban Noen Samborun, Moo 12, Khlong Nam Sai Subdistrict, Aranyaprathet District. When the men noticed the officers, they abandoned the boxes and fled back across the border into Cambodia.
Upon inspection, the boxes contained Alprazolam tablets—a controlled psychotropic substance known among teenagers as 'yaba.' Officers found 480 boxes of Axprazol brand (0.5 milligrams) and 480 boxes of Asolan brand of the same strength, totaling 960 boxes with 100 tablets per box, equaling 96,000 pills in total.
This drug is commonly abused and misused among young people. Officers seized all the medications and handed them over to the Aranyaprathet Customs Department for legal proceedings.