Lao boatman arrested delivering 840kg of marijuana

Lao boatman arrested delivering 840kg of marijuana

Officials show the 840 one-kilogramme bricks of compressed marijuana at the Mekong Riverine Unit in Nakhon Phanom on Thursday. (Photo by Pattanapong Seepiachai)
Officials show the 840 one-kilogramme bricks of compressed marijuana at the Mekong Riverine Unit in Nakhon Phanom on Thursday. (Photo by Pattanapong Seepiachai)

NAKHON PHANOM - A Lao man, 40, was arrested near the Mekong River in Tha Uthen district and 840 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana worth nearly 17 million baht seized late Wednesday night.

Provincial governor Somchai Witdamrong said the marijuana was seen being unloaded in sacks from a motorboat with about 5 men on board that arrived at the bank of the Song Khram River where it joins the Mekong River late on Wednesday night.

Officials arrested one of the men and seized the 840 compressed marijuana bricks weighing one kilogramme each. The man was identified as Ton Aksornwong of Khammouane province, Laos.

The governor said the suspect was about to deliver the marijuana to a Thai customer. It was worth about 20,000 baht per kilogramme on the Thai side.

He said marijuana smuggling was increasing in the northeastern province this year. Nakhon Phanom officials seized almost two tonnes in the past month. Last year they seized about three tonnes in total.

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