Three people have been arrested and more than 30kg of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", and 500,000 speed pills hidden in spare car tyres seized in Bangkok.
Chamras Denpreecha, 54, of Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai, Lerdsak Puripanyanant, 37, of Loei’s Wang Saphung, and a Shan man identified only as Chai were arrested separately in Bangkok and Chiang Mai on Monday and taken to a news conference at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on Tuesday.
Police said they also seized 31.8kg of crystal methamphetamine, 500,000 methamphetamine pills and a black Ford Escape with a Bangkok licence plate, and seven mobile phones.
The arrests followed a police investigation that found out Mr Chai, an alleged member of a major drug trafficking gang in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, had smuggled illicit drugs into Bangkok by hiding them in spare car tyres, Pol Maj Gen Pornchai Charoenwong, commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau’s Division 3, said.
Undercover police had contacted the suspect and arranged to buy 27kg of crystal methamphetamine for 13.5 million baht.
Mr Chai later assigned Mr Chamras to deliver the drugs in a car park at Khlongchan housing estate in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district on Feb 1.
When Mr Chamras and Mr Lerdsak arrived at the venue in a Ford Escape to deliver the 27kg of crystal meth, police showed up to arrest them.
Police then took the duo with them to search Mr Lerdsak's house at Sena Villa 84 housing estate in Bang Kapi district, and found 500,000 speed pills and another 4.8kg of crystal methamphetamine hidden in car tyres. Mr Chai was later arrested in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.
National police chief Chakthip Chaichinda said the seized drugs, worth about 200 million baht, belonged to the trafficking network of the late drug kingpin Khun Sa in Myanmar.
NSB chief Rewat Klinsesorn said warrants have been obtained for the arrest of a Shan couple in Mae Sai for their involvement in the trafficking of the seized drugs.
The couple operated a gold shop and a money exchange service in the northern border district, said Pol Lt Gen Rewat.