Police seized marijuana with an estimated street value of 30 million baht hidden in a pickup truck following a high-speed chase in Chumphon’s Tha Sae district on Wednesday.
Police acted on a tip-off that that a drug gang would transport a large quantity of marijuana to the lower South through the southern province, using a Nakhon Pathom-registered pickup truck this morning, said Chareonpong Kantilo, an investigation inspector at Highway Police Station 4, Division 2.
Police then carried out patrols and set up checkpoints at spots thought to be along the smugglers' route. A suspicious vehicle was spotted travelling at high speed on Petchakasem Road in tambon Tha Sae and its driver, who accompanied by two other men, refused to pull over at a checkpoint.
Police gave chase and shot the pickup’s rear tires. The driver managed to drive another 500 metres before he and his colleagues abandoned the vehicle and fled into oil a nearby palm oil plantation.
A check found 520 bars of compressed marijuana, weighing 520kg, hidden in the back of the truck and passenger cabin.
Pol Lt Col Chareonpong, who led the operation, said the cannabis was destined for tourist attractions on the southern islands where it is popular with foreign tourists. A kilogramme of marijuana could fetch at least 50,000 baht once down there and sold to tourists, he added.
Photos by Amnart Thongdee