Former drug kingpin Laota Saenlee, 86, has been released from Bang Kwang Central Prison after receiving a royal pardon under a decree issued to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s 4th-cycle birthday anniversary.
His release was reported on the Facebook page of Bang Kwang Central Prison, which posted photographs of a ceremony held on Friday.
The ceremony was presided over by Achara Sricham, a Nonthaburi provincial public prosecutor, for inmates granted a royal pardon marking the queen’s 48th birthday anniversary.
The former kamnan of Tha Ton in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district was serving a life sentence in drug trafficking and illegal firearms possession case following his arrest in October 2016.
The arrest was made during a sting operation in which police seized about 20 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine and military-grade weapons. Assets worth more than 1 billion baht linked to the case were also confiscated.
Mr Laota formerly served as an aide to the late drug kingpin Khun Sa.