Thailand targets drug ring billions

Sin bin: Thai narcotics officials tossing bags of drugs into a bin during the 50th Destruction of Confiscated Narcotics ceremony in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. — Reuters

THE downfall of a meth syndicate laundering tens of millions of dollars of drug money through Thai gold shops, oil and construction firms has cast rare light on the staggering scale of Asia’s narco profits – and the ruses used to hide them.

Thailand is South-East Asia’s meth “superhighway”, with drugs from Myanmar labs pouring through the border destined for the local market or overseas as far as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.