How Thailand’s drug syndicates launder millions by buying gold, steel and cryptocurrency
- Thailand is Southeast Asia’s meth ‘superhighway’, connecting drugs from labs in Myanmar to more lucrative markets
- Asia’s meth kingpins make US$30-US$60 billion a year and are the biggest producers in the world, authorities says
The downfall of a meth syndicate laundering tens of millions of dollars of drug money through Thai gold shops, oil and construction firms has shed rare light on the staggering scale of Asia’s narco profits – and the ruses used to hide them.
Prices have dropped as the drug labs ramp up production of yaba – the tiny caffeinated pink or green pills guzzled by Southeast Asian truck drivers to clubbers – and the more expensive and highly addictive crystal meth known as Ice.
But the drug lords remain beyond reach, hidden behind a web of middlemen and complex money laundering schemes.
Authorities say they are finally ready to change the game by going after drug money sloshing through Thai banks, construction businesses and cryptocurrency accounts.
“We have found an irregular flow in the banks of 170 billion baht (US$5.4 billion) – it may not all be drugs,” Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters this week. “But we are confident there is at least 12 billion baht (US$388 million) in drug-related assets – drug money is being turned into gold, zinc [panels], steel rods and oil.”