Three fleeing suspects were detained early yesterday in Ratchaburi after more than 300 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of over 900 million baht were seized on a southbound express train in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Monday evening.
Chakphat Phumphuang, 28, Wisarut Trachai, 23 and Pholthawat Mala, 21, all from Tha Uthen district in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom, were apprehended at a rented apartment room in Ban Pong district of Ratchaburi about 12.20am, Ratchaburi police said yesterday.
The arrests culminated a hunt that began several hours earlier, with police searching for them at various hotels, resorts and rented apartments. A fourth suspect named Suriyan Bunthiam, 32, was still on the run, the police said.
The four men fled express train No.171 from Bangkok to Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok when it stopped at a station in adjoining Prachuap Khiri Khan, according to a source. They were spooked after learning extra police had boarded the train, the source said. Police were looking for the fourth man. The detained suspects said he had gone his own way after they left the train together.
Ratchaburi police said the three admitted they were hired by a man they knew only as Dam for 100,000 baht to smuggle the drugs from Nakhon Phanom by bus to Bangkok, and then from Bangkok by train to Songkhla's Hat Yai district. Police tracked the suspects down after they were seen by security cameras leaving the train and fleeing into the city.
Earlier, in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district, a combined force of local, highway and drug suppression police boarded train No.171 at the station about 6.38pm on Monday, the source said. They had heard that a large amount of drugs were being smuggled on the southbound train.
After searching all 18 carriages for about an hour, they found five pieces of luggage and four rucksacks containing 250 bars of crystal meth, known as "ya ice", weighing more than 300kg in total and with a combined street value of over 900 million baht, the source said. The interception of the drugs was seen as a major success in efforts to close down this southbound smuggling route, the source said.
Meanwhile, two men were arrested in Udon Thani with 33,260 speed pills following a tip-off that they were part of a drug-trafficking network. Supat Simapa, 55, and Sangkhom Burandej, 48, were nabbed while a third suspect identified as Nanthapong Sikajae, 36, remains at large.
Police confiscated 7,593 speed pills from Mr Supat while Mr Sangkhom was apprehended with 25,667 pills dug up near his house. The pair told police they collected the pills from Mr Nanthapong who allegedly smuggled them into the province across the border. The drugs were hidden in the districts of Wang Sam Mo, Si That and Kumphawapi.
In Bangkok's Min Buri area, a 23-year -old woman was arrested with 6kg of ice, 30,000 speed pills and 900 ecstasy tablets.
The arrest was made after police followed two suspects to a location where they hid their stash. The woman, Jarawee Thorthong, was detained while her alleged accomplice, Sutthipong Sijaem, fled as police moved in to make the arrest.