LAMPHUN: A drug courier has been arrested and 105kg of crystal methamphetamine seized from his pickup truck during a police search in Muang district of this northern province.
Phanuwat Yunumatphusit, 36, a native of Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong district, was apprehended after police searched his pickup truck parked along Lamphang-Chiang Mai superhighway near a petrol station in Lamphun’s Muang district on Wednesday night.
The search uncovered six rucksacks containing 105.9kg of crystal methamphetamine hidden behind the driver’s seat, Pol Lt Gen Montri Sumboonnanont, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5, said during a media conference on Friday.
The suspect claimed he had been ordered by two gang members, identified only as Yia and Pao to take the drug in Mae Taeng district of Chiang Mai. He then left Mae Taeng and drove along the route to Lamphun but was caught on the way.
He told police that the two men had asked him to keep the crystal meth in his house pending an order to deliver it.
If the drug was successfully delivered, he and his gang would be paid 300,000 baht, according to the suspect.
Pol Lt Gen Montri said the arrest followed a police investigation that the suspect had been involved in drug smuggling. Police had kept a close watch on him and found he often left his house in Lamphun for northern border areas.
Following a tipoff that the man would smuggle the drug on Wednesday night, the officers followed him on the route, said the Police Provincial Police 5 chief.
Mr Phanuwat was charged with having illicit drugs in his possession with intent to sell. He was later taken to Nikhom Usanakham police station in Lamphun for legal action.