Major drug bust reported in Ann Twsp

By DMG 06 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
6 April 2022, Ann

Fifteen million methamphetamine pills imprinted with the letters WY were recently seized at a military checkpoint in Ann Township, Arakan State on April 5, according to the chief of the Ann Township police force, Police Captain Myo Kyi.

Three-hundred packages of the pills, each containing 50,000 tablets that were hidden in bundles of clothes, were discovered on a truck attempting to cross the checkpoint, according to police.

“We have detained the driver and conductor and are interrogating them. They [the pills] might be worth more than 20 billion kyats [US$11.25 million] on the market,” said Police Captain Myo Kyi.

Police have opened a case against the driver and conductor for possession of illicit narcotics under Myanmar’s Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substance Law, according to a high-ranking police officer from the Arakan State police force’s crimes unit.

“We learnt that the truck came from Yangon and was heading to Maungdaw. We are still interrogating them, and so still don’t have much information,” the police officer said.

An Ann Township resident who was at the checkpoint at the time of seizure said: “I saw all the township-level authorities there. We couldn’t even take photos. I saw a lot of drugs.”

Illicit narcotics are often seized in Arakan State, particularly in Maungdaw District, where the Naf River separates Myanmar from Bangladesh.