New Delhi: Even after lakhs of efforts by the police and the government in Thailand, the drug business is not stopping. Drugs are being smuggled here on a large scale and are being consumed by the people. Recently, during a raid in a temple in central Thailand, all the priests there were found drunk. These priests have now been sent to a reformatory. All priests at a Buddhist temple in Thailand’s Phetchabun province tested positive for methamphetamine drugs during a raid on Monday, a local official said. The chief priest was also included among the priests.
The priest was sent to the reform house
A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been evacuated after all its priests (monks) tested positive for drugs, said Boonlert Thintapathai, district magistrate of Bung Sam Phan in Phetchabun province. All the monks have been sent to a drug reform home, the official said.
People cannot perform rituals
After the temple was flooded and all the monks were sent to reformatory, the temple was locked. After this incident, no priest is seen in the temple. Since the temple is empty after this incident, the townspeople are very disturbed. Those people say that they are not able to perform any kind of rituals. However, District Magistrate Banlert said that he would soon arrange priests at the temple so that people could perform rituals.
This drug is widely used in Thailand
Methamphetamine, a drug confirmed to be among the priests in the raid, is widely used in Thailand. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Thailand is the main country that consumes the drug. The drug is brought to Thailand from Myanmar via Laos. One tablet of this medicine costs approximately 20 baht (Thailand currency) i.e. 40 rupees. In recent times, large quantities of these drugs have been seized several times across the South Asian region.
Myanmar’s drug network is vast
International drug gangs have deep ties with Myanmar. In March, Delhi Police’s Special Cell seized heroin worth Rs 40 crore smuggled from Myanmar. Its price in the global market was around 40 crores. Police said smugglers bring drugs into India from Myanmar via Manipur, after which they are transported to other states.