CHIANG RAI: Police seized 900,000 speed pills and 3kg of crystal methamphetamine and arrested two drug smugglers, one of whom was shot and wounded in a brief gunfire, in Muang district early Saturday.
Police, led by Pol Col Itthipon Chansribut, superintendent of Narcotics Suppression Bureau’s Division 3, were despatched to a forest area at Ban Tham Patong village in tambon Thasud in Muang district of this northern province at around 12.10am. The move followed a tip-off that a drug gang would smuggle illicit drugs along this route.
Shortly after, the officers spotted a black BMW with Kamphaeng Phet licence plates passing this route. They then followed the sedan and found it was parked at Kriang Suwan hotel in tambon Thasud.
Two men later got out of the car and carried fertiliser sacks from the vehicle to a room. Police rounded up the area and asked for a search. One of the men, identified later as driver Wallop Ruansri, 45, of Kamphaeng Phet province, allegedly pulled out a revolver and opened fire at the officers before jumping over a barbed-wire fence, but was shot and fell down.
The other man, Charnrit Suwannabol, of Sukhothai, also tried to flee by jumping over the fence but hit the barbed wire and fell.
The two men were subsequently caught. Mr Wallop, who sustained a gunshot wound to his hip, was sent to a hospital.
The officers found eight sacks and three bags inside the car and the room. The sacks contained 900,000 speed pills and the bags contained 3kg of crystal methamphetamine.
During the interrogation, Mr Charnrit told police that Mr Wallop had persuaded him to smuggle the drugs from a border area at Ban Tham Phatong village to inner areas.
Mr Wallop went to the hotel to pick up his wife and their eight-month-old baby. He allegedly wanted them to accompany him to portray himself as a family man taking his family on holidays when stopped by officers manning checkpoints, according to his accomplice, who said he used the trick several times before.
Mr Chanrit was held in police custody for legal action and so will Mr Wallop after being reated for his gunshot wound, police said.