「モアイ像」から覚せい剤２００キロ押収、台湾に輸送予定　タイ

【バンコクＡＦＰ＝時事】タイ警察は９日、南太平洋のイースター島の石像「モアイ」のレプリカの中に隠されていた覚せい剤の一種メタンフェタミンの結晶２００キロを押収したと発表した。像は、台湾へ輸送される予定だったという。（写真は押収されたイースター島の石像「モアイ」のレプリカ。タイ当局提供）
　ラオス、タイ、ミャンマー国境の一帯は世界有数の麻薬生産地で、密輸拠点ともなっており、「黄金の三角地帯」と呼ばれている。
　タイの麻薬捜査班は台湾警察と連携し、バンコクの南東約５０キロに位置するレムチャバン港の輸送会社を捜索し、鉄骨とセメントでできたモアイ像を調べた。
　像は２０２０年末、展覧会用に台湾からタイに輸送されたもので、警察はこれに絡み、タイ人と台湾人の容疑者の逮捕状を請求していた。
　国連が先月公開した報告書によると、東南アジアでは昨年、過去最多の１０億錠のメタンフェタミンが押収された。
　地域のメタンフェタミンの主要生産拠点は、依然としてミャンマーのシャン州北部だ。
　専門家によると、メタンフェタミンの生産量は前例のないほど増えており、昨年２月のミャンマーのクーデターの影響で、状況はさらに悪化しているという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/10-13:32）

Thai authorities have seized 200 kilograms of crystal meth hidden inside a replica Easter Island statue awaiting shipment to Taiwan, police said Thursday.
Southeast Asia's so-called Golden Triangle -- the notorious border region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand -- has long been an infamous hotspot for drug production and trafficking.
Thai drugs officers working with Taiwanese police raided a shipping company in the port city of Laem Chabang, some 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Bangkok, to examine six statue heads made from cement and metal frames.
Officers used an angle grinder, hammers and chisels to cut a hole in one statue, uncovering the drugs hidden inside in plastic bags, according to footage shown in local media.
Khemmarin Hassiri, commander of the foreign affairs division of the Royal Thai Police, told AFP the drugs were due to be shipped to Taiwan.
The statues were originally transported to the kingdom from Taiwan in late 2020 for an exhibition.
Police have sought arrest warrants for Thai and Taiwanese drug suspects connected to the statues.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime regional representative Jeremy Douglas said the haul was no surprise.
Trafficking connections between syndicates active in the Mekong, including Thailand, and Taiwan are longstanding and strong, Douglas told AFP.
Taiwan is a destination market particularly for meth and ketamine, but is also a trans-shipment point for Japan and other parts of East Asia.
The seizure comes after a UN report published last month said a record one billion methamphetamine pills were seized in East and Southeast Asia last year.
The report also said 79 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine were seized across the region in the same period.
Myanmar's northern Shan state remains the region's primary source of meth.
Experts say methamphetamine production is at unprecedented levels and has been exacerbated by the coup in Myanmar in February last year, which has paralysed the economy and livelihoods.
Myanmar's lawlessness is providing ideal conditions for illicit drug labs to flourish, with a largely unchecked supply of precursor chemicals flooding in from China.