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A new twist in the crystal methamphetamine trade with dealers from West Africa and Iran muscling in on the local market has police worried.

Narong Rattananukul, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the dealers are selling at lower prices and targeting young people with less disposable income.

Mr Narong said it had become apparent of late that traffickers from Iran and West African countries are taking a more prominent role in Thailand's drug trade.

He said the Iranian dealers in particular are eyeing a niche in the trade of crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, which has been dominated by Red Wa gangs based in Myanmar.

Ice sold by the Iranian gangs had a wholesale price of 800,000 baht a kilogramme in Bangkok, compared to 2 million to 2.5 million baht charged by traffickers from the North.

That was because the Iranian drugs are of a low quality with a lesser amount of pseudoephedrine, a stimulant in cold tablets used as precursor to produce methamphetamines, Mr Narong said.

However, the drugs sold by the Iranians are made in factories owned by Wa drug producers in Myanmar.

"There are very real fears the cheap drugs from Iranian gangs will be sold to customers in the lower-end market,"' he said.

A close watch is being kept to track drug producers who turn apartments, townhouses or condominiums in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces into "kitchen labs" to churn out speed pills and ya ice to supply local dealers.

Kitchen labs required only a small amount of space, a couple of machines and a few people to run them.

Chemical ingredients to make the drugs can be bought over the internet, with tips on how to produce the drugs available on websites, Mr Narong said.

He said the use of ya ice is becoming more prevalent as dealers are employing new marketing tactics to attract customers in the middle- and lower-end income groups. They include dividing the drugs into smaller quantities for sale at low prices.

Mr Narong said some state officials had been found to be involved in drug trafficking. In 2010, 95 state officials were arrested.

Those caught included 71 military officers and 15 policemen.