BANGKOK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's narcotics control agency on Monday announced it will be intensifying joint efforts with officials from other countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to suppress drug smugglers on planes coming from Africa.
The movement was necessary because West African drug syndicates still played important roles in smuggling cocaine to Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations, said Niyom Termsrisuk, Secretary-General of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
Just in the past two months, officials seized 7.6 kg of cocaine from four smugglers at Suvarnabhumi international airport including 2.8 kg with an Argentine man and 1.8 kg with a South African woman, Niyom said at a press briefing here.
He also said that last year officials seized 30.6 kg of cocaine from nine smuggling attempts and all smugglers were hired by West Africans.
Most of the African drug smugglers transit through ASEAN member countries before arriving in Thailand, he said.
Niyom told the media that the majority of cocaine is produced in Colombia and smuggled through Brazil and Argentina.
ONCB will now share information with ASEAN members and expand its investigation and intelligence on narcotic cases with its counterparts in Southeast Asia, Niyom said.
