Police dismantled a heroin trafficking network allegedly led by a Burmese gang in Thailand.

Authorities raided 11 locations across the provinces of Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Nonthaburi, Chonburi and Bangkok believed to be hideouts for the suspected drug syndicate.

Police Lieutenant General Phanurat Lakbun, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) of Thailand, said in a November 27 press briefing that the raids were part of an expanded investigation into suspected drug smugglers caught carrying 203lbs (92kg) of heroin in Nonthaburi province in September.

The police chief said the ringleader behind the drug trafficking was identified as Myanmar national Ai Yi Saw. They said the country's civil war has allowed drugs gangs to operate almost with impunity.

He said: 'Police collected evidence and obtained arrest warrants for six people, including Mr. Ai Yi Saw, a Burmese national who played a role in ordering the transport of 91.7 kilograms of heroin.'

Authorities arrested three suspects during the raids, including Ai Yi Saw's Thai wife, Sangpetch. At her home in Chiang Rai province, officers found 4 million baht (92,000 GBP) in cash and gold ornaments, which she she acquired from selling land and running a grocery store.

Sangpetch reportedly claimed she was divorced and had not been in touch with Ai Yi Saw for several years. However, investigators said they found evidence of their frequent correspondence.

Financial documents also reportedly showed that Ai Yi Saw distributed profits from his drug business to his relatives.

Police seized more than 101 million baht (2.3 million GBP) worth of assets, including real estate, buildings, gold, cash, bank accounts, and vehicles.

The ONCB said investigations were ongoing to track down the other suspects believed to have fled into neighbouring countries.

The raids came after two suspects were arrested at a warehouse with 203lbs (92kg) of heroin in Nonthaburi province on September 1. The alleged gangsters had hidden the drugs in a modified compartment of a pickup truck and smuggled them from the border in Chiang Rai into central Thailand.

Chiang Rai province is Thailand's northernmost province bordering Myanmar near the notorious Golden Triangle criminal hub.

Bloomberg citing data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that a record 169 tonnes of methamphetamine was seized in SEA last year, 82 per cent of which came from the Golden Triangle - a hotbed of criminal activity where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.

At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.

In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.

The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.

International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.

(1 GBP = 43.58 THB)