Thai police seized 1,178kg of crystal meth from a boat that was taking it to the Philippines.
The haul could be worth up to 1.2 billion baht in Thailand, depending on purity, the Bangkok Post reported. Six Thai crew members, including the captain, were arrested.
It comes a week after police in Laos stopped 521kg of meth bound for Manila on a private jet.
Hidden in tea bags
Police had a tip that the vessel, East Harbour 1, was part of an international drug network.
On Sunday, 4 October 2026, officers spotted it leaving the coast of Songkhla in southern Thailand to pick up drugs at sea. Patrol boats tracked it.
At 12.30am on Wednesday, 7 October, police decided it had collected the drugs and was getting ready to sail for the Philippines, said Pol Gen Itthipol Achariyapradit, Thailand's deputy national police chief.
Marine police boarded the boat in the lower Gulf of Thailand. They found the meth packed in tea bags inside 39 sacks, in a secret compartment at the stern.
The six men, aged 39 to 66, face charges of illegally selling category 1 narcotics. Police are widening the case to find the rest of the network.
A week of Manila-bound drugs
On 1 October, police in Laos found 521kg of crystal meth in suitcases being loaded onto a private jet at Luang Prabang airport. Malaysian police said those drugs were meant for Manila. A Singaporean pilot and a Filipino passenger were among the 13 people held. Read our report.
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The two seizures add up to about 1.7 tonnes of meth headed for the Philippines, by air and by sea.
Where the meth comes from
Most of the region's meth is made in Myanmar's Shan State, in the Golden Triangle where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says.
Seizures in East and Southeast Asia hit a record 236 tonnes in 2024, up 24% on the year before. Thailand alone seized 130 tonnes.
UNODC also flags sea routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, with Sabah as a key transit point.
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"The 236 tons represent only the amount seized," UNODC's acting regional representative told Al Jazeera. Far more reaches the market.
Carrying for others
In the Laos case, airport workers who loaded the suitcases were among those held.
Never carry a bag or parcel for someone else, on a flight home or on a boat. If someone pressures you to, call the Singapore Police Force hotline at 1800 255 0000.
Top photo: a fishing boat in the Gulf of Thailand off Koh Chang by Slyronit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. File photo, not the vessel in this case.
