Bt21 billion worth of illegal drugs incinerated in Ayutthaya

Employees from the Food and Drug Administration sort out boxes of assorted illegal substances before their incineration during the 47th Destruction of Confiscated Narcotics event by the Thai Government at Bang Pa-In Industrial in Ayutthaya. // AFP

AYUTTHAYA: -- Authorities destroyed more than 9,300 kilograms of confiscated narcotics with an estimated street value of Bt20.719 billion on Monday, International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

They included 87 million ya ba (amphetamine) pills.

The 47th Destruction of Confiscated Narcotics ceremony was held at the Utility and Environment Management Centre in Ayutthaya’s Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate.

The drugs destroyed, with a net weight of 9,321 kilograms, had been seized in 6,546 arrests and raids across Thailand.

The load included 7,886 kilograms of ya ba – around 87 million pills – with a street value of Bt17.5 billion, 1,185 kilograms of “ice” (crystal methamphetamine) valued at Bt2.9 billion, 169 kilograms of heroin worth Bt182 million, and marijuana and kratom leaves confiscated by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau weighing 6,853 kilograms and worth Bt54 million.

The drugs were destroyed by pyrolytic incineration – burned in a fire of at least 850 degrees Celsius to quickly turn the drugs’ molecules to carbon without polluting the air or otherwise harming the environment. images(43).jpg images(44).jpg