Four people were arrested with 600kg of compressed marijuana hidden in cow dung and 3kg of crystal methamphetamine concealed under fruit in separate raids in Chumphon and Surat Thani provinces on Wednesday.
In Chumphon, Jetsada Yodthong, 30, of Si Sa Ket, was apprehended when highway police stopped his pickup truck with no licence plate for a search at kilometre marker 23 on Asia Road No 41 in Sawi district on Wednesday morning.
The search found 14 plastic bags containing 600kg of compressed marijuana worth about 18 million baht hidden in sacks under cow dung piled in the back of the pickup, said Pol Maj Gen Somchai Kaosamrarn, commander of the Highway Police Division.
Mr Jetsada said his regular job was to deliver chilli from Si Sa Ket to Bangkok. He had been approached by a man identified only as Por to smuggle marijuana from Nakhon Phanom to Bangkok.
He said Lao people had loaded the black plastic bags with the drugs onto his pickup, and Por drove another vehicle ahead of him. However, nobody came to pick up the drugs when they arrived in Bangkok.
Por then asked him to deliver the drugs to Songkhla’s Hat Yai district, but he was caught. If the drugs were successfully delivered, he would have received 200,000 baht, the suspect said.
In Surat Thani, three people, one woman and two men, were arrested after 3kg of crystal methamphetamine was found hidden in their pickup truck loaded with fruit in Tha Chana district on Wednesday.
Yanisa Nuanroad, 33, Prapan Siem-on, 36, and Surin Ariyaseranee, 29, all natives of Chumphon, were caught at Nongnin intersection.
Ms Yanisa told police they had been hired for 50,000 baht to put packages containing 3kg crystal meth into a garbage bin beneath a footbridge in Ban Na San district of Surat Thani.
Surat Thani governor Wongsiri Promchana said during a media briefing that the province was being used as a transit route for drugs into southern border provinces.
Three suspects were arrested with 3kg of crystal methamphetamine found hidden under piles of fruit in the back of their pickup truck in Surat Thani on Wednesday. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)