NAKHON PHANOM: One man was arrested and 350kg of marijuana worth about five million baht seized as it was unloaded from a boat on the bank of the Mekong River in That Phanom district.
The man, Thao Yuen Srisawat, 24, of Savannakhet, Laos, was present at a media briefing on the operation at the 235th Border Police Patrol Company in That Phanom district on Thursday.
Police also displayed the contents of nine fertiliser sacks containing a total of 350 one kilogramme bars of compressed marijuana and a .38 pistol and six bullets found in his possession.
The seizure followed an investigation that revealed a consignment of drugs would be smuggled into That Phanom district.
On Tuesday night, a team of border patrol police spotted 4-5 men unloading sacks from a long-tail boat on the bank of the Mekong River at Ban Saimoon in That Phanom district. When they moved in, asking to search the sacks, the men ran away. Only Thao Yuen was caught.
Police said smugglers who previously used routes entering through the North were now using the Northeast, and Nakhon Phanom in particular. Over the past three months, almost five tonnes of marijuana and four million methamphetamine pills have been seized in this northeastern province.
Chaiwat Chaiyawetpisit, chief of That Phanom district, said the seizures had led to more frequent patrols and road checkpoints near the border.