PHRAE - Four members of a drug network run from behind bars by two prison inmates have been arrested and 84,000 methamphetamine pills found buried at one suspect’s house in Den Chai district.
A combined team of police, soldiers and local officials searched the house in tambon Pong Pawai on Monday evening acting on a tip off a large amount of illicit drugs would be delivered here.
Upon seeing the officers, two men and two women inside the house panicked and tried to flee, but they were all caught.
The four were identified as Nongkharn Boonmak, 47, the owner of the house, Singha Nawaponpitak, 30, Pin Boonsaeng, 32, and her brother On Boonsaeng, 24.
A search of the house uncovered three jars used to ferment fish buried near a toilet behind the house. When police opened the covers on the jars they found 42 packages containing 84,000 speed pills inside.
Ms Nongkharn confessed she had begun selling illegal drugs for the first time after being released from jail two years ago.
She told police that her husband Shinnabut Boonmak, 35, was being held in Phrae Prison on drug charges and had purchased drugs from Khampan Nawaponpitak, an inmate at the same prison.
Mr Khampan told a visiting relative to ask his younger brother Singha to deliver the drugs to Ms Nongkharn.
Ms Nongkharn had previously been sentenced to two years and nine months in jail for possessing 24,000 speed pills in 2013. She was released from jail on Feb 26, 2014, police said.
Pol Maj Gen Panudet Boonruang, chief of Phrae police, said they had been monitoring the activities of this gang long before the arrests were made.
Ms Nongkharn had visited her jailed husband Shinnabut and got to know relatives of Mr Khampan during family visits to the prison. The two inmates made drug deals inside the prison.
The four suspects were held in police custody for legal action and the investigation would be expanded, said Pol Maj Gen Panudet.
According to media reports, Mr Khampan would ask his wife Ms Pin, his brother Singha and Ms Pin’s brother On to smuggle drugs from Mae Sot district of Tak and deliver them to Ms Nongkharn after receiving purchase orders from Shinnabut. Ms Nongkharn then supplied drugs to small-time dealers in Den Chai district and nearby areas.
These two men were arrested during a drug raid on a house in Phrae's Den Chai district, along with two women. (Photo by Taweeporn Sukkasem)