BANGKOK, Thailand – Suspected drug lord Somchai "KaTer" Rakyodying is in the custody of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) after being extradited from Burma on Thursday (July 25th), local media reported.

Arrested in Burma nearly a year ago, Somchai is believed to be the mastermind behind the illegal trade in the decongestant pseudoephedrine, used to make methamphetamine.

ONCB Secretary General Pongsapat Pongcharoen said Sunday that Somchai fled to Burma last year after Thai authorities uncovered a stash of 137,000 pseudoephedrine pills at his rented house in tambon San Klang, Chiang Mai province. Another package containing 10,000 pseudoephedrine pills stolen from Uttaradit's Thong Saen Khan Hospital was found at another house he rented in tambon Ton Pao.

The ONCB chief credited the ease with which Somchai was extradited to bilateral co-operation in thwarting transnational drug rings.

In March 2012, Thailand banned pharmacies from selling pseudoephedrine-based medicines because of issues with illicit use, The Bangkok Post reported.