1.7m speed pills worth about 500 million baht
THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
 |
| The three suspects line up with Chiang Rai officials and the 1.7 million speed tablets found hidden on the truck. |
CHIANG RAI : Police seized more than 1.7 million speed pills and arrested five suspected drug traffickers in separate operations in Muang and Mae Sai districts yesterday. The drugs haul is worth an estimated 500 million baht.
Provincial police chief Pol Maj-Gen Detnarong Suthicharnbancha said police acted on information that a large shipment of methamphetamine pills was hidden on a 10-wheel truck carrying corn and travelling in the company of a pick-up truck from Mae Sai district.
The drugs had been smuggled from Burma through a border pass in Mae Fa Luang district and would be delivered to dealers in central provinces.
The police targeted a gang of drug traffickers from Mae Sai district.
They identified the two vehicles and when they stopped for a red light near an entrance to Chiang Rai airport police pounced.
They arrested three suspected drug traffickers _ identified as Manop Inthong, 46, a truck driver, Somya Sukam, 33, a pick-up truck driver, and passenger Akom Sombutra, 44.
When they searched the pick-up they initially found nothing suspicious.
However, eight sacks of drugs were found beneath a cargo of corn loaded on the 10-wheeler.
Inside the eight sacks they found 857 packages containing a total of 1,714,000 methamphetamine pills.
Police also seized two gold necklaces, about 50,000 baht in cash and three mobile phones from three suspects.
Mr Somya allegedly confessed he had taken delivery of the drugs from a man named Prasong Sikhan in Mae Sai district and had planned to deliver them to drug dealers in Lop Buri. He was acting as the guide for the truck the drugs were found on.
The two other suspects denied any knowledge of drug smuggling.
Police later arrested Mr Prasong and his wife in Mae Sai district, seized an amount of speed pills, a tractor and two sedans, and charged them with possession of an illegal substance.
An official source said the methamphetamine was probably from a Burmese drug trafficking network under the United Wa State Army.
The drugs were being smuggled to major drug traffickers in Lop Buri and would then be distributed in Bangkok and nearby provinces.
The source said the network of drug trafficking along the Burmese border had become more sophisticated under the absolute control of local influential groups.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Next
