Phayao police and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Region 5 raided a rental house in Mueang Phayao district following a tip-off identifying a drug stash waiting to be distributed to nearby provinces. They seized nearly 3 million methamphetamine pills along with parcel boxes prepared for disguised shipment through a private courier company.
On 11 Nov 2026 in Phayao province, reporters reported that yesterday (10 Nov 2026) at 12:00 PM, Pol. Maj. Gen. Pongsawat Chaibaan, Provincial Police Commander of Phayao, learned of an operation hiding narcotics in preparation for transport via a private parcel delivery company. The traffickers had rented a house in a housing estate in Mae Tam subdistrict, Mueang Phayao district, Phayao province.
He assigned the Phayao Provincial Police investigation unit, narcotics suppression team, Mueang Phayao Police investigation team, and ONCB Region 5 officers, led by Pol. Col. Wisit Pluemjai, Chief of Investigation, Phayao Police; Pol. Col. Chalermchat Yavichai, Chief of Mueang Phayao Police; Pol. Lt. Col. Narit Sondit, Director of ONCB Region 5; Pol. Lt. Col. Ratchaphol Karnreo, Deputy Chief Investigator of Mueang Phayao Police; and Pol. Lt. Col. Chawit Keeratinankul, Chief Investigator of Mueang Phayao Police. Together, they tracked and investigated the rental house.
Upon inspection, the house was found empty. It is believed the occupants sensed the operation and fled before the authorities arrived to search.
When officers searched inside, they found various-sized cardboard parcel boxes scattered across the main room. Opening them revealed narcotics hidden inside 49 parcel boxes. Each box contained between 80,000 to 100,000 methamphetamine pills, in both small and large packages. There were 14 large packages, each containing 40 smaller bundles, totaling 2,918,000 methamphetamine pills. All were seized as evidence. Authorities are pursuing individuals involved in the trafficking operation who used the rental house in the city. Initial information about their identities and locations is known, and authorities are actively tracking and arresting them.
Following this seizure, ONCB Region 5 officers, together with Phayao provincial police, have traced the trafficking network, confirming that Phayao province serves as a drug storage hub, with shipments sent from Phayao to nearby provinces via private courier companies to final destinations.
Recently, ONCB Region 5 tracked about 760,000 methamphetamine pills in a northern province. They discovered the drugs were sent via parcels from Phayao through a private courier. Authorities then mobilized forces to raid the target house in Mueang Phayao district and found a large quantity of narcotics concealed in 50 parcel boxes in the rental house, totaling 3 million methamphetamine pills.