SURAT THANI: Three men were arrested and 1,199 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, in their possession seized by police in Phun Phin district of this southern province Saturday, police said.
Pol Maj Suchart Kuachim, the Phun Phin police deputy chief, said that at about 5am on Saturday police at a security checkpoint on the South-bound side of Highway 41 in tambon Nong Sai stopped a six-wheel Isuzu lorry for a search.
Three men in the lorry said they were delivering sacks of cow dung. In the search, however, the police found 30 black plastic bags hidden under the sacks of cow dung. The plastic bags contained a total of 1,199kg of crystal meth or ice with a street value of about 600 million baht.
The three men - Suvit Nungsong, 43, Somsak Sunthornnon, 56, and Somporn Chaipakdee, 50, all from Trang province - were arrested. The drugs and the lorry were seized.
Mr Suvit, the lorry driver, said he had been hired by Mr Somporn for 100,000 baht to pick up the drugs from Samut Sakhon province for delivery to tambon Che Libang in Muang district of Satun.
Pol Gen Suchart Teerasawat, a deputy national police chief, flew to Surat Thani on Sunday morning to join Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, deputy chief of Region 8 Provincial Police and other officers to investigate.
The deputy police chief said that according to the database of the Region 8 Office of the Narcotic Control Board, it was believed the crystal meth had been smuggled into Thailand via the northern border, destined for the South. From Thailand, it would be moved to a neighbouring country and then to other countries, particularly in Europe, where ice is in high demand, he added.