Chalerm warns drug networks of crackdown

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Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung has warned drug dealers and traffickers that they will face the full force of the law.

He said there would not be any extrajudicial killings as seen during Thaksin Shinawatra's drug war in 2003 that claimed the lives of more than 2,600 suspects.

"But if drug dealers fight against the [police] officers, we have to resort to protect [ourselves]," Mr Chalerm said. "Those involved in drug networks might be killed by drug gangs, not police officers, to cut them from the drugs cycle."

Mr Chalerm said narcotics suppression was one of the policies Pheu Thai campaigned on last year.

He made his comments yesterday while filling in for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on her TV programme Yingluck Government Meets The People on Channel 11. National police chief Priewpan Damapong and Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) secretary-general Adul Sangsingkaew also appeared on the programme.

Mr Chalerm, who is also director of the National Command Centre for Drugs, said the government intended to reduce drug problems in the country within one year through several measures.

These included blocking the entry of illicit drugs from neighbouring countries, blocking the import of precursor chemicals, providing medical treatment for drug addicts, seeking cooperation from neighbouring countries to suppress trafficking along the border, and cracking down on the drug trade in night entertainment venues and local drug rings.

Mr Chalerm floated the idea of separating drug inmates from normal inmates by putting them in a special prison. The first could be in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sikhiu district.

Inmates would be strictly controlled and cut off from the drug trade outside prison, while jammers would cut off mobile phone signals.

Pol Gen Priewpan said he had ordered police officers to crack down on both small and big-time drug dealers nationwide and to patrol night entertainment venues to check for drugs.

Pol Gen Adul said the ONCB was working closely with its anti-drug partners nationwide to rehabilitate 400,000 addicts and to strengthen about 60,000 communities to help young people stay away from drugs and drug gangs.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva expressed concern over the drug suppression campaign, especially its pledge to reduce drugs within one year, as he was afraid that it could bring about a new round of extrajudicial killings.

Mr Abhisit said those involved in the government's drugs policy must come out to clearly assure the public that they would use appropriate methods.

Dr Niran Pitakwatchara, commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission, said the government must carry out the campaign under the rule of law and fundamental human rights.

"To resort to violence to solve drug problems is not accepted by the international community. Thailand had learned such a lesson. The government should not repeat this mistake again," said Dr Niran.

Somchai Kerdrungruang, whose nine-year-old nephew Chakraphan Srisaard and younger sister Pornwipa were shot dead by police during Thaksin's war on drugs, said he agreed with the current drug campaign but urged the government to protect the lives of innocent people.

"I don't want to see other people lose their lives like my nephew and younger sister," said Mr Somchai, who urged the government to arrest police officers involved in the drug trade.

Maj Piyanat Ketchamras of the Engineers Battalion of the 3rd Army, who is suspected of involvement in a one billion-baht drug case, was yesterday ordered to be detained until Feb 8.

Police also yesterday arrested 10 ethnic Haw people with 400,000 speed pills and 24kg of crystal methamphetamine worth about 41 million baht at an apartment on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district.

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Edited January 29, 2012 by FarangFarang