UDON THANI: Border patrol police seized 400kg of compressed marijuana from Laos in Na Yoong district Tuesday. They believed the shipment was destined for Japan.
Pol Col Prat Soonthornpimol, chief of the 24th Border Patrol Police unit in Udon Thani, said on Wednesday the marijuana was ferried in sacks by three boats across the Mekong River from Laos to the Thai bank in Ban Nam Phrai of tambon Kaeng Kai in Sangkhom district, Nong Khai province.
On the bank, the sacks were loaded onto a white Chevrolet pickup truck. Police followed the truck from Nong Khai to Ban Chiang Dee of tambon Non Thong in Udon Thani's Na Yoong district.
Police then signalled the truck to stop for a search but its male driver accelerated away.
After police shot at its tyres, the truck stopped near Yoong Thong School in tambon Na Yoong. The driver ran into roadside woods and successfully evaded arrest.
Police found 15 sacks of marijuana altogether weighing 400kg on the truck - 390kg of dried and compressed marijuana bars, and 10kg of powdered marijuana in vacuum-sealed packs.
Pol Col Prat said the market value of the marijuana was 2 million baht in Laos, and 6 million baht once it had reached the Thai side of the border. He believed the marijuana was destined for Japan, where its price would soar 10 times.