ONCB destroys drugs to build public confidence

Secretary-General of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) proceeds with the destruction of narcotics in accordance with the Prime Minister's order, emphasizing the importance of building confidence among the public, emphasizing that the government is serious and inviting all sectors to participate. Pol. Lt. Gen. Panurat Lakboon, Secretary-General of the Narcotics Control Board (Secretary-General of the ONCB), presided over the destruction of confiscated drugs from the ONCB office, with Ms. Kanika Oonjit, Deputy Government Spokesperson, Mr. Nont Paisal Limcharoenkit, Vice Chairman of the Committee, along with representatives of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Narcotics, Mr. Amit Hillel and Ms. Noppanat Zeemadee, Israeli narcotics liaison officers in Thailand, along with Mr. Pakphum Dechhasadin, owner of the Mor Lab Panda page, famous influencers Oppa Thuchy and Buffet channel, as witnesses at Akki Prakarn Co., Ltd. (Public Company Limited), Bangpoo Industrial Es tate, Samut Prakan Province. Pol. Lt. Gen. Panurat said that for the process of examining the confiscated drugs this time, the ONCB invited the Deputy Government Spokesperson, representatives of the House of Representatives' Anti-Money Laundering and Narcotics Committee, academics, influencers, and the media to witness the destruction of the drugs at every step in order to represent the public in building confidence and widespread awareness of the process of destroying the confiscated drugs, that they were destroyed in a transparent manner, and to assure the people living in the surrounding areas that the process of destroying the confiscated drugs this time had an air pollution control system that would not affect the environment. The ONCB destroyed the seized drugs that passed the drug testing today, with a net weight of over 23.3 tons of seized drugs from 146 cases, including 18,903 kilograms (207 million methamphetamine pills), 2,833 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 1,086 kilograms of ketamine, 434 kilograms of heroin, 8 kilograms of ecstasy, and other drugs weighing over 41 kilograms. The destruction of seized drugs under the government of Prime Minister Settha Thavisin from September 17, 2023 to the present (August 8, 2024), the ONCB and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have carried out a total of 5 times, with a net weight of 344.49 tons of seized drugs, covering a total of 878,195 cases (2,277 million methamphetamine pills). The ONCB destroyed seized drugs a total of 4 times (including this time). The total number of seized drugs that were burned and destroyed is 364 cases, net weight of seized drugs totaling 86.75 tons (656 million methamphetamine pills) The Secretary-General of the ONCB provided additional information about the incineration process using a hazardous waste incinerator with a temperature higher than 1,200 degrees Celsius that uses natural gas fuel. The ONCB's Narcotics Acceptance Committee, the Narcotics Destruction Working Group on Acceptance, the Narcotics Destruction Worki ng Group on Transportation, Security and Destruction, and the Public Relations Working Group on Narcotics Destruction have jointly inspected and accepted the narcotics that have been examined, inspected the types and quantities of the narcotics to be destroyed, and the characteristics of the packages containing all the narcotics. The narcotics are controlled and maintained for safety during the transportation of the narcotics 24 hours a day at the Narcotics Research and Testing Institute (NRTI), ONCB (Thung Song Hong). The narcotics are transported to Akki Prakan Co., Ltd. (Public Company Limited), Bangpoo Industrial Estate, Samut Prakan Province, which has safety measures throughout the route. After that, representatives from the Samut Prakan Provincial Forensic Science Office, the Police Forensic Science Office, and the Narcotics Research and Testing Institute, ONCB will jointly sample the narcotics for preliminary examination using the Color's test before going to the incinerator, which is the process of d estroying the narcotics as specified. After the incineration is complete on August 9, 2024, the drug destruction team in charge of transportation, security and destruction will jointly inspect the orderliness and collect samples of ashes from the incineration to send for testing to confirm that all the drugs have been destroyed. Source : Thai News Agency