Police arrested three suspected drug smugglers with 154kg of heroin in Thailand.

The alleged traffickers were reportedly caught transporting 440 heroin bars stashed in the seat compartment of a van at a gas station in Chai Nat province.

Cops said they also seized 7.6 million THB worth of assets from the suspects, including 10 cars, cash, gold bars, gold jewellery and land title deeds.

Police Lieutenant General Panurat Lakboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said in an October 23 press conference that the arrests were made amid investigations into an international drug smuggling network operating in Thailand.

Authorities had previously intercepted a 300kg shipment of crystal meth in Nonthaburi province. The intended recipient was located in Songkhla province in the deep south bordering Malaysia, leading police to believe it was being delivered abroad.

The drugs were said to have come from Thailand's northern border with Myanmar, near the Chinese-run Golden Triangle that is a known hub for criminal activity.

The ONCB chief said the suspects claimed the heroin was to be transported to another country. The pattern was reportedly consistent with information about recent drug trafficking cases between Taiwan and Thailand.

He said: 'In the meeting, we received information that the Taiwanese drug trafficking network ordered over 220 pounds (100 kilogrammes) of heroin from Thailand to smuggle into Taiwan at the end of October.

‘The information was in line with the arrest in this case, which reflects our efforts to intercept these drugs before they are transported to another country through Thailand.'

On October 5, police arrested alleged Taiwanese gangsters reportedly distributing party drugs to bars in Bangkok, Thailand.

Taiwanese men Tsai Yi-han, 35, Hsieh Teng-wei, 27, Wang Kai-ti, 41, and Thai woman Achisa, 19, were detained by the Metropolitan Police for allegedly providing the contraband to foreign tourists at nighttime venues in the capital.

They were arrested in a raid at a luxury condominium in Bangkok.