Thailand seizes 284 tonnes of illegal e-waste and prepares to ship it back to US

Thailand is preparing to return a large shipment of illegally imported electronic waste to the United States after authorities seized the consignment at Laem Chabang Port.

“Thailand is preparing to return a large shipment of illegally imported electronic waste to the United States after authorities seized the consignment at Laem Chabang Port”

The Times of India

The shipment, weighing about 284 tonnes, was confiscated following an inspection by officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), customs authorities, and the Pollution Control Department.

The Times of India

Deputy prime minister Suchart Chomklin confirmed that 12 shipping containers carrying nearly 285,000 kilograms of e-waste were seized during the operation and will be sent back to the US.

Phanthong Loysakunanon, director-general of the Customs Department, stated that the incident followed a rigorous Department of Special Investigation (DSI) probe, which uncovered the smuggling patterns for the team.

By falsely claiming that hazardous electronic waste was scrap metal from Haiti, smugglers attempted to fool the customs.

This awareness shows Thailand's intensifying war against illegal waste and its commitment to maintaining the international protocols.

To fulfill the hundred percentage international protocol, Thai officials are now tracking 714 additional containers currently in transit to prevent further environmental dumping.

The Times of India

Toxic e-waste disguised as scrap metal flagged at Laem Chabang Port.

The inspection at Laem Chabang Port was sparked by high-precision risk profiling that identified a mismatch between the cargo's declaration and its hazardous contents.

Under the DSI Case File, investigators uncovered a pattern where a smuggler falsely labelled 284 tonnes of toxic electronic waste as ‘scrap metal’ from Haiti to bypass cargo team checking.

This red flag was bolstered by intelligence from the Basel Action Network (BAN), confirming the shipment contained processed printed circuit board scrap, which is a direct violation of the Basel Convention on hazardous waste shipments.

These illegal electronic waste shipments were divided into three separate groups, as confirmed, which totals the number to eighteen containers.

“Thailand is preparing to return a large shipment of illegally imported electronic waste to the United States after authorities seized the consignment at Laem Chabang Port”

The Times of India

And the twelve containers labelled as scrap iron from Haiti made up the first and most important group, but it came to be known that they were hiding 284 tonnes of hazardous printed circuit board scrap.

Four containers from the United States that were identified as mixed metal scraps and were headed to Japan and Hong Kong made up the second group.

Lastly, two containers from the US and the Netherlands were included in the third group.

For years, Thailand has been a main target for illegal electronic waste smuggling, looking to avoid international environmental laws.

Reports from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) show that the illegal trade in electronic waste increased sharply after 2018.

The country often serves as a secondary dumping ground for Western digital waste.

In May 2025, Authorities took 238 metric tonnes of U.S.-origin electronic waste at the Port of Bangkok.

This operation, part of "Operation Can Opener," found 10 containers of processed circuit board scrap that were falsely labelled as mixed metal.

In January 2025, a huge seizure of 256 tonnes of electronic waste from Japan and Hong Kong was stopped at Laem Chabang.

The Nation Thailand reported that these shipments were also disguised as ‘scrap metal’ to get around the 2020 ban.

In July 2018, after the ‘China effect,’ Thailand experienced an 80% increase in plastic and e-waste imports, leading to emergency raids on unlicensed recycling factories in Chachoengsao and Chonburi, as noted in research published via PMC.