NONG KHAI: Police and soldiers seized 76.5kg of heroin worth almost 100 million baht following a brief clash with drug smugglers on the bank of the Mekong River in Sangkhom district in the early hours of Friday.
The joint patrol was deployed to Huay Luangson area following a tip off a shipment of heroin would be smuggled across the Mekong to an agent in in Sangkhom district, Pol Maj Gen Chalong Pakpinyo, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 4, said at a media briefing (see video below) on Friday.
Around 3am, a group of 10 men were seen carrying fertiliser sacks from a boat on the riverbank. Members of the patrol emerged from hiding to ask to make a search. The men quickly dropped the sacks and fired shots at the patrol as they fled into a nearby forest.
Inside the sacks were 200 slabs of heroin weighing 76.59kg in total. The packages each bore one of two logos - two lions on a globe, and a golden elephant. The heroin has a street value of almost 100 million baht, he said.
The drugs were most likely from the Golden Triangle area and were smuggled through a neighbouring country and then to Thailand for gang members to distribute and sell, the deputy police chief said.
Clip by Chakkrapan Natanri