Police in Laos seize meth pills in one of biggest busts

Authorities in Laos have made their third largest seizure ever of methamphetamine, confiscating a haul of 33 million tablets along with 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine, an official with the U.N. anti-crime agency said Saturday.
The huge bust came after 200,000 tablets were found Friday night in a truck that was stopped at a checkpoint in the northwestern province of Bokeo, said Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. That action exposed a trafficking group and its plans, leading to the far bigger seizure following the driver’s interrogation.
Douglas pointed out that the truck was stopped near the Kings Roman Casino, which is located in a special economic zone of Laos that operates virtually autonomously of national law. Such zones are found in the neighboring countries of Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, all of which have loose law enforcement and have struggled with organized crime.