PHRAE: Police seized 600,000 speed pills from a trailer truck abandoned by a driver at a checkpoint equipped with an x-ray machine to scan for drugs in Den Chai district on Saturday.
The driver, identified later as Woraphuek Khaisuwan, 39, a native of Chun district in Phayao, did not respond when a police officer called his name to drive his trailer truck to the x-ray scanning area at the Huay Rai checkpoint in Den Chai district of this northern province.
When police searched the cab of the trailer with Chiang Rai licence plates, they found four black plastic bags near the driver’s seat and noticed the smell of illicit drugs coming from the bags.
Each bag contained 150,000 speed pills, or 600,000 in total, said Pol Lt Gen Montri Sambunyanont, chief of the Provincial Police Region 5.
Initially, police received a tip-off that a pickup truck was being used to smuggle illicit drugs and would be travelling along the route. Officers stopped a pickup and two following trailer trucks, including the one driven by Mr Woraphuek, for x-ray examinations.
No illicit drugs were found in the pickup truck, and the first trailer truck was also cleared after a scan, said Pol Lt Gen Montri.
When it was the turn of the second trailer to approach the scanning area, the driver vanished.
Police and soldiers immediately began looking for Mr Woraphuek, who was believed to have escaped via the back of the checkpoint building which is near a mountainous and forested area. He remains at large.
Four large plastic bags containing illicit drugs are taken from the trailer truck. (Photo by Taweeporn Sukkasem)
Officers examine part of the illicit haul. (Photo by Taweeporn Sukkasem)