AYUTTHAYA: Two men said to be part of a major drug smuggling gang were arrested and 400 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana worth about 6 million baht seized after a chase in Wang Noi district on Saturday.
Narongsak Kawichai, 47, and Pornchai Saengbunchai, 48, both from Ayutthaya, were apprehended on Phahon Yothin Road in Wang Noi, said Pol Maj Gen Worawat Watnakornbancha, chief of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD).
The arrest came after ATPD investigators received information that a large quantities of marijuana were about to be smuggled from Laos to the Central Plains region. The drugs were to be kept in storage for delivery to dealers in Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya and nearby provinces, said Pol Maj Gen Worawat.
Informants posing as customers were sent to contact members of the gang to negotiate the purchase of 400kg of compressed marijuana at 15,000 baht per kilogramme, or 6 million baht on total. The delivery was arranged for a parking lot at the Wang Noi market in tambon Lamsai.
Police were dispatched to the area to await the delivery. When they saw two vehicles whose drivers were acting suspiciously, the officers closed in to make an arrest. But the drivers sped off, prompting the police to give chase. The officers fired shots at the tyres of the vehicles, bringing them to a halt, and arrested the two drivers on Phahon Yothin Road.
Bullet holes were later noticed in one of the police vehicles but no one had been hurt. Authorities believed at least two more suspects had fired shots at the police vehicle and managed to flee before their accomplices were arrested.
During the interrogation, police said, the pair confessed that they been hired to deliver the drugs to dealers and received 150,000 baht each for each delivery. They told investigators they had made at least 10 such deliveries in the past, said Pol Maj Gen Warawat.
A record check showed one of the suspects had been the subject of two arrest warrants, one for murder and illegal possession of firearms in 2009 and another involving drugs in 2010.
The two suspects have been initially charged with illegal possession of Category 5 drugs. They were handed over to narcotics suppression police for further legal action.
Packs of compressed marijuana are found hidden in one of the vehicles of the two drug suspects. (Police photo)